Destiny
by prettyinpinkgal
Summary: Sophie Hatter is not looking forward to her marriage to the dull Mr. Collins. However, when she meets a handsome man on May Day, her uneventful life takes a turn which will lead her into a moving castle and have her enter the lives of its inhabitants.
1. In Which an Introduction is Given

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello! This is my first multi-chapter HMC fanfic. I was inspired to write this after watching "Pride & Prejudice". I couldn't think of anything else to call this fic except for "Destiny", but I don't really like it that much XP Maybe I'll think of something later to call it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story!**

**Oh, I may not be able to update this for a while, cuz I'm busy working on another fanfic I have, called "Just a Dream". However, I'll try to update this ASAP! I just wanted to let you guys know that, in case it's a long time 'til I update again. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Howl's Moving Castle. It belongs to the brilliant Diana Wynne Jones, while the adapted movie version belongs to Hayao Miyazaki. This fanfic is based loosely off of "Pride and Prejudice", too, so I don't own that, either.  
**

**Summary: Sophie Hatter was a young hatter in the town of Market Chipping, in the country of Ingary. Destined to marry a wealthy man, but unable to love him, Sophie is stuck in a life that she has no control over whatsoever. However, when she meets a handsome man on May Day, will she be able to able to live life the way she wants to? Or will she abide by her family's wishes, doomed to a life of boredom and no love?**

**DESTINY**

**IN WHICH AN INTRODUCTION IS GIVEN  
**

In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes.

Sophie Hatter was the eldest of three sisters. She had ginger--"red gold," Sophie always called it--hair, and was a lovely young woman. She was only eighteen, but was quite mature for her age, as her mother had died when she was two and her sister Lettie was one. Sophie's father, although he loved his children dearly and tried to give them the best of the best, was busy working in the hatshop the family owned, so his eldest daughter was the one who mainly looked after her younger sister.

Mr. Hatter soon married Fanny, a young shop assistant. Fanny gave birth to Martha, the third daughter. She loved all three girls equally, never favoring her own daughter in the least. While Fanny tried to be mother-like to the girls, she was often busy helping her husband in the shop. Sophie became quite skilled in breaking up squabbles between Lettie and Martha, and acted almost as a mother would to the two younger children.

The girls went to school, and all three received good grades. Sophie, however, loved to learn. While Lettie and Martha did well, they just didn't have a passion for knowledge. Because of Sophie's love for learning, she discovered quickly that being the eldest was a terrible burden. You could not live life as you would like, because you'd most certainly fail. After learning this, she felt rather sorry for herself, then decided to help Lettie and Martha become very successful.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hatter passed away, leaving Fanny to manage the shop alone. Soon, the tiny hat shop gained more popularity; in fact, it became too popular for Fanny to handle alone. After a given amount of time, when Sophie was eighteen, Lettie was seventeen, and Martha was fourteen, the two younger girls were sent away to live as apprentices.

Sophie was left to create hats for the hat shop for the rest of her life.

At first, Sophie didn't mind so much. After all, she _was _the eldest. It was her duty to work in her family's hat shop, even though it wasn't exactly her first choice in a career. But she really had no other option. After a couple weeks, the job turned into a boring, dull occupation. Not to mention, Sophie was stuck in a room with many middle-aged to elderly women, and no young girls to talk with. Sometimes, Sophie had to resort to speaking with hats. If she didn't, surely she'd forget how to speak.

A few months after Sophie started working in the hat shop, Fanny had come into the workroom with a happy grin on her face.

"Sophie, my dear, I have some splendid news for you!" she cried to her stepdaughter, the grin on her face seeming to get larger by the second, if that was possible.

Sophie blinked. "What is it?" she inquired. What could possibly be "splendid news" for the eldest daughter?

"My friend has a son who is only five years old than you. I've met him, and he seems like a fine gentleman. Not to mention, he's absolutely rich! He's a perfect match for you, Sophie! If you two marry, then you will never have to work in the hat shop! Doesn't that sound wonderful?! ...Er, Sophie dear, are you listening?" Fanny asked, finally noticing Sophie's blank stare.

"...Marriage?"

"Yes, dear. I know you're only eighteen, but many women marry at your age."

"I'll marry a man I've never met?"

"Well, of course you'll meet him before the wedding! Oh, Sophie, I'm positively sure you'll love him! He's quite handsome too."

"Of course, he's wealthy, too," Sophie said with a sigh. She couldn't see any way of getting out of this. Fanny was so excited about the match, and the man's money would help Fanny with some financial issues she'd been having. Plus, Sophie wouldn't have to work at the hat shop anymore. It was a win-win situation.

But what if she didn't love this man?

_Oh, for goodness' sake! Don't be so selfish, Sophie! This is a great opportunity! I should at least meet him, _she decided.

"Alright. I'll meet him."

"Wonderful!" Fanny gave her stepdaughter a hug that nearly sufficated Sophie. "I'll have him over for dinner tonight. Lettie and Martha are going to be stopping by for dinner anyway to visit, so you won't feel so shy."

"I-isn't it going to be on too short a notice for him?"

"Actually, I had already asked him yesterday. He said it'd be fine," Fanny replied.

Sophie bit her tongue so she wouldn't snap, "You were going to have him over whether I agreed to it or not, weren't you?!" Instead, she replied with a simple, "Oh."

After Sophie calmed down a bit, she asked what the man's name was.

"Mr. William Collins," said her stepmother, who was busy giving change to a woman in the shop.

**Prettyinpinkgal: So there's the prologue. I don't really like it too much (sighs). But it was just a prologue, so hopefully it'll get better. See ya in the first chapter!  
**


	2. In Which May Day and a Stranger Arrive

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hey! Thanks so much for the reviews, you guys! I really appreciate it! Here's the first chapter; hope you guys enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Howl's Moving Castle" or Mr. Collins from "Pride and Prejudice". Oh, and the second sentence is based on the "yo mama" joke. A bit of the movie will be mixed into this chapter.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER ONE: IN WHICH MAY DAY AND A STRANGER ARRIVE  
**

Dinner had been a most horrendous, insufferable event. Mr. Collins could try out for a boring contest, and would be turned away because they would not accept professionals. He was not terribly ugly, but he was not handsome either. He was an arrogant, self-centered person who cared only for himself and money. He even went so far as to insult the girls' deceased father about his business and the foolishness of paying so much for the girls' education!

Sophie's sisters had acted ecstatic enough at the thought of a suitor for their sister during the dinner. However, Martha and Lettie spoke their minds as soon as Mr. Collins departed...

"_How! _How could you _possibly _try to manipulate Sophie into giving this...this..." Lettie stuttered.

"Fool?" supplied Martha, who didn't want to say what she really thought he was in fear that she would suffer her mother's wrath for using foul language.

"--a chance?! And you actually want Sophie to _marry _him?! Fanny, he is the most--"

Martha decided it was her time to rant. "--Selfish, annoying man, and he acts like he doesn't even have feelings for anything! He treats us all like items instead of people! Just imagine how he'll treat Sophie if they wed! You already have her slaving away for you here at the hat shop! The only reason it's doing so well is because of Sophie, who you don't even pay! (Ahem) But back to the main point: If you force Sophie to marry Mr. Collins, she'll be miserable. Is that really what you want for her?"

Sophie thought this was rather harsh of them. After all, she knew that Fanny only wanted what was best for Sophie.

Sophie's opinion soon changed of her stepmother when she heard the older woman's response to the rantings. "Now, now, girls. Mr. Collins is a very successful man. Sophie will have a secure future. You don't hear her complaining about Mr. Collins, do you?"

Sophie gathered her courage. "Actually, I can't say I like--"

Fanny cut her stepdaughter off. "Sophie, think about the shop. We've been suffering some financial difficulties lately; Mr. Collins's money will be a great help. We'll be well to do, and you won't have to work hard in order to make ends meet when you start a family with Mr. Collins."

_Have a family with Mr. Collins? _The very thought made Sophie ill.

"Mother, don't you dare try and make Sophie feel guilty about not marrying that man," Martha said warningly. "This is not about you or the shop; we're talking about Sophie's future husband, for goodness's sake!"

But Fanny's method worked. Sophie felt awful. She was being so selfish, wasn't she? "Alright," Sophie muttered, almost inaudibly. "I'll marry him."

Fanny obviously didn't feel any remorse for forcing such a fate on Sophie. "Wonderful! Oh, I just _knew _you'd understand! We will have the wedding in two months. Mr. Collins's parents and I had already discussed the wedding plans. You're such a lucky girl, Sophie!"

"Yes...lucky..." Sophie weakly replied, an equally weak smile on her face. She could hardly believe what she had just agreed to. There was no way she'd ever be able to love Mr. Collins.

But then, love had nothing to do with anything. Love seemed to be something that was only to be found in fairy tales. Or at least for people that were not the eldest.

As Sophie saw her sisters to the door to bid them farewell, they tried once more to convince her to change her mind on the marriage.

"You deserve so much better, Sophie!" Lettie and Martha cried simultaniously.

The eldest girl shook her head sadly. "Fanny's right. It's for the best that I marry him. Besides, I could've had a worse fiance. I could've had someone who struck me whenever they got a little angry at me. Or someone who was a heavy alcoholic. William Collins doesn't seem to be either, so..."

"He's still so...AGH! Come on, Martha: We can't change Sophie's mind. She's far too nice to think of not marrying him." Lettie sighed and hugged her sister. "I do wish you'd change your mind." Martha agreed completely.

Sophie smiled, touched by her sisters' concern. "Thanks, but I'll be alright. Mr. Collins isn't so bad." Inside, each of the three girls cringed with the thought of Sophie standing at the alter with the man.

The two girls departed reluctantly, and Sophie went to bed, her mind heavy with worry. Soon, she fell asleep, weary from the events that had taken place.

**ONE MONTH LATER...**

It was now May Day. For an entire month, Sophie had been engaged to Mr. Collins (she did not want to call him William; it was not as if they were on a friendly acquaintance). Their meetings were absolutely boring, and Sophie considered pretending to catch a sudden illness whenever they were supposed to go out together.

To say that Sophie hated Mr. Collins would be a fib. She didn't loathe him, but she didn't like him either. His companionship was even more torturous than when they had first met.

Today, Sophie was technically supposed to meet Mr. Collins to have "a good look at the May Day festivities. It's always quite enjoyable to mock those fools who become so excited about such a silly holiday" (Mr. Collins said this, not Sophie). But the girl had other ideas. She hated being in large crowds by herself to a great extent, but she certainly did not want to be in one with Mr. Collins as her only companion. She would much rather spend May Day visiting Lettie in Cesari's.

So she snuck out. Sophie felt rather bad about being so mean, but if she saw Mr. Collins again without venting her frustrations to her sister beforehand, she would scream.

The redhead, wearing a hideous grey dress that she commonly wore while making hats, couldn't help but notice that she stuck out like a sore thumb when compared to the colorful dresses the many beautiful women of Market Chipping wore. But Sophie was not one to be vain, and focused her attention on simply getting to Cesari's as soon as possible.

Slipping into an alleyway, away from the bustle of the crowds, she sighed with relief. The months of working in solitude in the hat shop were paying their toll. There was a great comfort in only being able to hear your own breath and the padding of your own feet on the stony road. Oh, wait a moment. That wasn't just her own feet...

"Why, hello there," a voice said, startling Sophie. Her head flew up, and she saw a handsome man standing before her. But he was a little too close for comfort.

"Er, um, hello," Sophie stuttered, utterly embarrassed by her shyness as she took a step back.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a boring place like this? Come on, I'll take you out for a drink..."

"P-please, I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave me alone. I'm in a hurry..." Sophie tried to walk around the man, but he grabbed her arm.

"Wait. Since you're so scared, I'll walk you over to wherever you need to go. Don't worry, I won't hurt you, you little mouse. Now, where is it that you need to go?"

Sophie looked up finally at the man's face. He had blonde hair and glassy eyes, and must have been in his twenties. He was even more handsome than she had first thought, now that she'd gotten a better glimpse of him. The man noticed her staring and smirked slightly, but kept the coureous attitude.

"Do you enjoy staring at men's faces, or is it just mine?" he joked.

Sophie's face turned beet red, and she averted her eyes elsewhere. "I-I'm sorry. But will you please let me go?" she asked, nodding towards her arm that was still in the stranger's grip.

"I only want to make sure..." the man started with a smooth voice.

She knew she would not get rid of him at this rate. "If you're trying to get a dancing partner for the upcoming May Day dance, then I suggest you give up your search, because if you keep acting like this, you'll scare away all the girls!"

The man widened his eyes in surprised, then used his free hand to make a motion as though swatting a bug. "You have quite an interesting power there. If I wasn't used to magic, your curse would have gotten to me."

Sophie blinked, and stopped struggling. "Curse? Power?"

"You told me that I'd scare off all the girls. I probably would have if I hadn't gotten rid of your curse. You didn't mean for it to have a magical effect when you said it, so it wasn't too powerful."

Sophie continued to gape at the stranger. "Curse?" she managed to squeak again.

The man took on a bewildered expression, letting go of her arm as soon as he realized she wasn't about to leave. "You didn't know you had powers? Huh," he said, scratching his perfect hair. "Well, you're quite able to talk life into things. Everyone who's magical has a different talent, and that's yours."

Sophie woke up from her stupor. She shook her head vehemently. "Oh, no, sir. I think you must be mistaken. There's no way--I mean, I have--I'm the _eldest_," she finally managed to say.

"So?"

Sophie stared some more at him. "I'm the _eldest_. Of three." She said it slower, as if that would make him understand. He just continued to blink at her. She sighed of exhasperation. "I'm the eldest. I'm not supposed to have special talents, other than at being a failure."

"You believe that fairy-tale logic?" he asked. "You must be joking!"

"Well, it's true," Sophie said, suddenly indignant. She didn't like being made fun of. Suddenly, she heard a voice calling, "Miss Hatter!" It was Mr. Collins's.

"Drat!" she cried out loud. Talking out loud had become a habit of hers ever since she started working at the hat shop. "He's noticed I'm not home!"

She was about to go running off into the crowd in search of Cesari's, when the stranger asked, "Who are you running from?"

Sophie was far too nice to run off without answering. But she wasn't nice enough to keep from answering curtly, "My fiance. Mr. Collins. He's trying to find me so we can go make fun of other people's enjoyment, because he can't seem to find any happiness in anything else other than himself. Not that it's your business, of course. Now, please excuse me."

The man still wouldn't let her go; a sly smile was on his face. "In just one moment."

"What?" Sophie cried, utterly exhasperated. "What now?"

"What's your name?"

Sophie was too frustrated to think about the consequences there might be in giving the man her name, such as him asking around for a Sophie Hatter. "Sophie Hatter. And yours?" she asked, with bitter politeness.

The sly grin widened. "Howl." Sophie didn't contemplate on the meaning of his name. Instead, she just ran away from the approaching voice. She heard Howl say behind her to a person who was inevitably Mr. Collins, "No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen your fiance." Sophie mentally thanked him. She exited the alley and began to blend in with the crowd.

Only later, after speaking with Lettie and spending some time alone at Cesari's while Lettie worked, did Sophie realize that Howl possessed the same name as the infamous Howl who possessed a moving castle and supposedly hearts and souls of girls he courted.

**Prettyinpinkgal: I hope you all enjoyed it! I'll post the next chapter once I have time. Please review! Thank you very much:D**


	3. In Which Sophie Seeks Her Fortune

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello! Here's another chapter for you guys! I'm glad ya'll are enjoying it so far:) Fanny's sort of mean in this story, just so you know. By the way, I made a mistake in the previous chapters. I mentioned how the hat shop was doing too well, and then said how Fanny was having financial difficulties. How about this: Fanny is having financial troubles, and the hat shop is NOT doing well, but Sophie's sisters believe that Sophie's the one who helped the hat shop still be in business (due to her hats). Or something along those lines. Hopefully that makes more sense (sweatdrops). Thanks to J Luc Pitard for pointing this out:)  
**

**Disclaimer: Mr. Collins is not mine. He is from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". I don't own Howl (sobs), Sophie, or any other plot line or character that is from Diana Wynne Jones's "Howl's Moving Castle".**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER TWO: IN WHICH SOPHIE SEEKS HER FORTUNE  
**

Sophie made a knot, sewed, and spoke to the hat as she decorated it. All in all, it was a normal day. She acted in her typical manner, pretending that nothing unusual happened over May Day, which was just yesterday. In fact, the only thing eventful that had happened since May Day was that Fanny had scolded her for being so cruel to Mr. Collins.

"Where have you been? I've been worried sick--and so has Mr. Collins! He stopped by to see you, and you were gone..." Fanny had ranted on and on. Mrs. Fairfax, Fanny's friend and Martha's teacher, had been sipping tea with Fanny when Sophie had returned home. As Fanny lectured Sophie, who hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, Mrs. Fairfax, who was known for being a chatterbox herself, seemed impressed with Fanny's ongoing scolding.

When the lecture lasted longer than three minutes, Sophie eventually stopped listening. Instead, she had thought of Howl. She was incredibly lucky indeed to have escaped with her heart and soul intact.

"...Because of your selfish behavior, you may not go out this week."

Sophie did her best to put on a disappointed face. "I understand."

"Good. Now, would you mind working on some of the hats, dear?"

Sophie rushed off to do her work, smiling to herself. _What luck! _she thought with glee. _Now I don't have to go on one of those dreadful outings with Mr. Collins! _A sudden thought struck her, wiping the grin off her face. _But that also means he can always visit me at home. I'll be stuck with him and I'll have nothing else to do but speak with him. _Sophie mentally cried an unladylike word she had learned from Martha.

Now, as Sophie sewed, she realized it was rather rude of her to jilt Mr. Collins. She would have to get used to him, if she was going to be his wife. The very thought of it made her shudder.

"That's quite enough of that attitude, Sophie!" she scolded herself, which struck her as very Fanny-like. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and went back to work.

"It's my duty. If it's what Fanny thinks is best, then I should obey her." Another thought occured to her. "But I _am _eighteen. I can decide what I want to do on my own. I don't always have to do her bidding!"

Sophie kept going back and forth, becoming more and more confused as to what was right and what was wrong. Suddenly, a knock came from the door. It was Mr. Collins.

"Hmm. I thought you were with someone else, Miss Hatter. I thought I heard you talking to someone."

Sophie normally would have been embarrassed that someone heard her talking to herself in such a fashion, but she was quite sick of Mr. Collins at the moment and lashed out, "Maybe I was just talking to myself. There's no one else to talk to in this place!"

Mr. Collins appeared mildly surprised to hear Sophie talk like that (at least, as surprised as his blank face could look) and he paused. Then, he replied with what he thought would be the best answer, "You could talk to me if you would like."

"You? YOU? Talking to you is like talking to a hat! No, wait, that's insulting to the hats. The bonnets are better conversationalists and are much less egotistical and self-absorbed than you!" Sophie yelled.

Mr. Collins's brow furrowed. "Women shouldn't speak against men," he said quietly. "When you're my wife, we'll have to do something about that, won't we? I don't want a headstrong woman as my wife. Wives are submissive."

"GAH!" Sophie cried, grabbing a hat she had finished minutes earlier and pulling it on top of her head. "I'm done with this place! I'm done with you! I can't STAND you!" She walked angrily out of the workroom and ran to her bedroom.

Mr. Collins caught up to her and stood at her bedroom door. "Where are you going?" he inquired, genuinely confused.

"OUT!"

"I'm not letting you go in this state. You might cause yourself to faint with excitement, and people will blame me for letting you go outside. Besides, women should always remain indoors unless they need to shop for necessities."

Upon hearing this, Sophie decided to try something Horrible Howl had mentioned. "Go away," she commanded fiercely. "Go to your home, then come back for me." That would give her plenty of time to leave.

A small part of Sophie that wasn't sick of the world was shocked when Mr. Collins began looking bewildered and his feet began shuffling towards the exit. Seeing that her words were working, she kept repeating them until Mr. Collins's feet began taking him back home.

Feeling greatly pleased, she packed her things. _I'll find my fortune, _she thought. _I'll find it my way, not by marrying some stuffy man that I don't care for and who doesn't care for me either! _She left her room, pausing briefly only to look in the room she had lived in for the past eighteen years. A small wave of sorrow passed over her, but she brushed it off.

She felt calmer, which was a problem. It's much easier to leave home feeling angry, because then you don't want to go back, at least for a while. She wanted to tell Fanny she was leaving for good, but she restrained herself. If Sophie told Fanny, her stepmother would try to make Sophie feel guilty for trying to leave and would get her to apologize to Mr. Collins and go through with the wedding.

Taking a deep breath, Sophie grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote,

**_Dear Fanny,_**

**_I'm sorry to be leaving without saying goodbye. Please don't look for me. I'll be fine. I'm going to search for my fortune--a fortune that does not involve Mr. Collins--and it may be quite a while until you hear from me again. I cannot go through with the marriage--I'm sorry to disappoint you--and I can't stand Mr. Collins. Good luck with the hat shop._**

**_Love,  
Sophie_**

**_P.S. Tell Mr. Collins for me that perhaps his next fiancee will be a "submissive", meek woman who doesn't know her own mind. He'll understand what I mean.  
_**

Sophie left the note on her bed in plain sight. _Now, _she wondered, _where should I start my search for my fortune? _Somewhere outside of Market Chipping, to be sure.

Porthaven. That sounded nice. She always wanted to see the sea. She had money for the journey. Gathering her luggage, she left the building that had been her home for all her eighteen years. Sophie glanced over her shoulder but once, then continued on her way, refusing to shy away from this one chance of receiving her fortune, whether she was the eldest of three or not.

_"You believe that fairy-tale logic? You must be joking!"_

Although Howl had made her feel like a fool, thinking back, Sophie was rather comforted by those words. It was the first time someone outside of the family had made her feel like she could accomplish anything, whether she was born first or not.

Sophie caught herself and shook her head to clear her thoughts. _What am I thinking about him for? He eats girls' hearts and steals their souls! I shouldn't be thinking like this!_

She continued walking quickly down the road. A voice suddenly called out to her. "Miss Hatter! Sophie Hatter!"

Instictively, Sophie picked up the pace, worrying that her mysterious power didn't work and that it was Mr. Collins. She quickly dodged into a nearby alleyway. The calling stopped abruptly, which made Sophie pause and lean against the stony wall with a sigh of relief.

"Running from your fiance again?"

With an "eep!", Sophie whirled around, finding herself face-to-face with Horrible Howl. He smirked, but for an evil person, it didn't scare Sophie. Much.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you." He smiled. "We seem to have a habit of bumping into each other here, don't we?"

Sophie gathered her bearings. "W-were you the one calling for me back on the main street?"

"That's right. You didn't have to run away like that, you know. I don't literally eat girls' hearts, or their souls!" he laughed.

Sophie bit back a mystified, "You don't?" and instead said, "How did you get here so quickly? You were behind me before!"

Howl chuckled. "I have powers too, you know."

"O-oh, right, of course," Sophie stuttered, feeling quite foolish.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Which one?" Sophie asked in spite of herself. _I really should be on my way now, _she thought. _I don't want to be caught before I leave Market Chipping!_

Howl answered, "Running away from your fiance. Are you?"

"No...Well, sort of...It's a long story," was what she settled on.

"I have time," Howl said, leaning against the wall, yet not dirtying his fancy suit.

"I don't. If you'll excuse me, I have to go." Sophie picked up her luggage, which she had dropped out of surprise in seeing Howl, and took a step towards the main street.

"Do you need any help carrying that?" he asked, nodding towards her bags.

"I'm fine, thank you," Sophie replied as she peeked her head out and looked to see if there was any sign of either her mother or Mr. Collins. After a pause, she asked Howl, "Do you happen to know which direction is Porthaven?"

"I see. So you're running off to Porthaven?" Seeing Sophie's flush and her nod, he said, "Well then, I'll do better than tell you where it is; I'll take you there myself." Grabbing her hand before she could protest, Howl uttered a strange word. Wind blew round the two, and in an instant they were gone.

**Prettyinpinkgal: I think this was...sort of rushed. Sorry about that! But I really REALLY wanted to get to this part, because I knew it'd be fun to write. Anywho, thank you all for reviewing and reading, and please review for this chapter as well! Thank you!**

**By the way, I'm thinking about having the rest of "Destiny" follow the novel (having it include the Witch of the Waste's curse on Howl, etc.) but at the same time, I sort of want this to be more of an AU fanfiction, so maybe it won't have anything really from the novel. What do you guys think? I could have a mix, perhaps having many senarios not in the novel but having a couple major parts from the novel in the mix as well. Please vote on it! Thanks:)  
**


	4. Entering a Moving Castle and a Contract

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hey! Thanks everyone for reviewing and voting:D I've decided thanks to you guys that I'll make it pretty AU, but still have a few elements from the novel. Onto Chapter Three!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Howl's Moving Castle"; it belongs to Diana Wynne Jones. Oh, by the way, I bought the book version of "Pride and Prejudice" on a week ago! I'm about halfway done, because I was on vacation for a few days so I did not get a chance to read it much. It's very good thus far, though! Much better than the movie, although the movie helps you understand what's going on sometimes in the book. :) By the way, the ending sentence is based on the quote from the movie HMC.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER THREE: IN WHICH SOPHIE ENTERS INTO A MOVING CASTLE AND A CONTRACT  
**

"You can open your eyes now," Howl said in an amused voice once the wind settled.

Hesitantly, Sophie opened one eye, followed quickly by the other one. "Oh...my..." she breathed.

Before them was a giant black...thing. In fact, it was so bulky and dark Sophie was unable to decipher what it was. "What...is that?" she wondered aloud, both to Howl and herself.

"My castle."

The moving castle. She, Sophie Hatter, was face to face with Howl's moving castle. It was known for venturing around the countryside. She had seen it before, yes, but always from a distance. She was now only a few yards away from the feared home of Howl, and Sophie was unable to keep from shuddering. Howl had already claimed that the rumors concerning him devouring souls and hearts of innocent girls were false, but he _was _Horrible Howl. He could have easily lied. He seemed like a smooth enough talker; after all, he had tricked her into thinking he wasn't really as bad as the stories made him out to be, but here he brings her to his castle after she decides to run away because he knew that no one would realize he had taken her and, oh no, what was he going to do to her now? This was bad, oh so very bad. This was exactly why everyone always said the eldest was the most likely to fail when seeking their fortune. Why didn't Sophie listen? She should've married that bothersome Mr. Collins and behaved ladylike and as she was supposed to and pretend like she didn't have a will or a brain of her own and everything would've been just fine, but _noooo_, she had to go and run away!

Sophie's anger began to increase, resulting from her behavior and from being born the oldest of three sisters and from that stupid Mr. Collins being so infuriating and from Howl dragging her to his bloody castle.

Howl was saying cheerfully, obviously unaware of Sophie's inner turmoil, "Well, we better go ahead inside and I'll introd--"

Sophie would have slapped him, but it seemed like that would be going easy on him. Instead, she folded her hand into a fist, which collided with Howl's pretty face.

As she had never done something like that before, it was a weak punch and didn't hurt much. It was enough, however, to startle Howl into glaring at her and yelling, "What was that for?" He rubbed his reddening cheek as his glassy blue eyes glared at her. His empty eyes frightened Sophie a bit, but she was glad for an opportunity to argue.

"What do you mean, 'What was that for'?!" she yelled. "You kidnapped me, you...you...you cad!"

Howl glared and then sighed. "This is the thanks I get for saving you. Do you know how many dangerous people won't hesitate to attack a travelling young girl who has run away from home?"

Sophie let out an unladylike snort. "Like you, for example?"

Howl said laughingly, his anger apparently gone, "My dear Sophie! I'm wicked, but I won't hurt a mouse like you!" He thought for a moment. "Although, it seems you can hold your own if you are angry enough."

"Y-you...GAH!" She whirled around and grabbed her bags. "Good-bye!" She set off in the direction of Market Chipping.

"Where are you going? I thought you were heading towards Porthaven?"

"I am!" Sophie shouted at him, never looking back at him.

"Trust me, this is as good a shortcut as you can get!" Howl said, obviously amused by Sophie's behavior.

Sophie, in spite of herself, looked back warily. "What do you mean? This is your castle, not Porthaven."

"Quite right. Here, follow me and I'll explain." He walked towards his castle.

Sophie paused. This couldn't be a good idea, following Horrible Howl right into his domain. But her curiosity once again got the better of her. She would just stay close to the door at all times, that's all. She would be ready to bolt out of the building as soon as things got dangerous.

Sophie did not notice when Howl noticed her following and smiled to himself.

Howl held the door open for her as she ventured carefully into the unknown. To her shock, it wasn't scary in the least. Well, there was a skull there on the table, and Sophie couldn't help but cringe when she saw what a pigsty the place was. But there weren't bottles labeled "HEARTS" as far as she could see, which was a relief. There was a fire in the grate, which crackled as if in greeting. A boy entered the room hastily.

"Howl, you're back! I've been working on--" His voice trailed off as he stared at the girl beside his master. "Um, hello."

"Hello," Sophie replied with an uncertain smile. This boy didn't seem like the kind of person that would work for a man like Howl.

"Sophie, this is Michael Fisher, my apprentice. Michael, this is Sophie Hatter. She'll be living here with us."

Sophie blinked. Michael, obviously feeling as shocked as she felt, said, "Er, alright. Welcome to the moving castle, Sophie." He smiled, but the confusion was clear in his eyes.

"Thank you but--" she threw a hard glance at Howl "--I never said I'd be living here."

Michael watched in awe; this was the first time any of Howl's girlfriends put him in his place! Sophie seemed nice enough though, and at least she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. "I, er, need to pick up some things in town. Nice meeting you, Sophie!" he said, sensing the impending argument.

Michael squeezed between the two and changed Sophie watching in shock as he turned a knob to a different color. She forgot about her anger at Howl for a moment and watched in amazement as Michael opened the door to reveal a town near the sea. She saw a glimpse of a sign that said "Porthaven".

She stared at the door a few heartbeats after he closed it, and turned slowly to Howl. "How did he _do _that?"

Howl looked at the door, not hiding his pride. "I created it. It's meant to give us some sense of security and it's convenient for going to quite a few towns."

Sophie caught on. "Then, Porthaven..."

"...Is right through that door," finished Howl.

"Incredible," Sophie breathed. Glancing at Howl, she said, "May I?"

"Of course," he responded with a low bow.

Sophie snorted and rolled her eyes at his dramatic gesture as she went up to the door. She slowly raised her hand to the knob and gave it a turn. "Which one's Market Chipping?" she asked Howl, but he was no longer paying her any mind. He was hovering over the fire, getting food ready.

She shrugged, and reached out to play with the knob. Howl's voice stopped her for a second. "Don't open the door with the black side down."

"Why not?" asked the ever-curious Sophie.

"Because, my dear Sophie, it's full of evil creatures that will devour you in an instant."

Sophie snorted at his tone; it was obvious that he was lying, but Sophie didn't want to risk it. She was about to start fiddling with the knob again when Howl once again interrupted.

"Lunch is ready, if you're hungry."

Sophie raised an eyebrow at him. "You cook?"

Howl put his hand on his chest and gave her a pained look. "Sophie, you underestimate me! Of course I can cook!"

"Then why don't you clean?"

"..." Howl handed her a plate full of food. It was just now that Sophie realized how starving she was. She did not even toy with the idea that Howl might have put a curse on her food, or that he was trying to trick her into being comfortable enough so he could eat her heart without a struggle. She just ate and considered how big a miracle it was that the food wasn't covered in dirt like the rest of the castle. Apparently, when you transport from one place to another in the blink of an eye, it makes you work up an appetite.

Once Sophie was done with that helping, she went to cook herself another meal. "You can't," Howl protested, although he made no move to stop her.

"Why not?" She certainly didn't see the lazy man getting up to cook something for her a second time.

"Calcifer won't let you."

"Who?"

"The fire."

Sophie didn't particularly like how he seemed so amused over this, and snorted. "Oh, I'm _sure _the fire will let me, won't you, Fire, or Calcifer, or whatever your name is?" she addressed the fire with mock seriousness.

Sophie pretended it had eyes looking at her and a mouth frowning at her. She squinted for a moment, then gasped and jumped away when she realized it really _did _have a face, and a rather frightening one too, at that.

It grinned at her reaction. "Well, you didn't freak out nearly as much as I thought you would. You're calmer about this than Michael was when he first realized I was alive. I'm impressed!"

Howl jumped in for the introductions. "Calcifer, this is Miss Sophie Hatter, the new resident of the castle. Sophie, this is Calcifer."

Sophie gulped, cleared her throat, and curtsyed. "P-pleased to meet you, Calcifer."

"I have to say, Howl, you did a good job picking this one. She looks like she's a smart one. But you probably weren't thinking about that when you picked her, huh?" he asked with a roll of his eyes. To Sophie, he said, "You're the first one of Howl's girls to meet me. Congratulations."

This would be a moment where, if Sophie was drinking water, she'd spit it out. "I am _not _'Howl's girl'," she said vehemently, cringing at the mere idea.

"You don't need to be so disgusted," Howl said in a hurt voice.

"Anyway," Sophie continued, ignoring the drama king beside her, "I'm not staying here."

Calcifer raised a firy eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. It was a pleasure to meet you, Calcifer, but I must be going now." She turned on her heel and went towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Suddenly, Howl was right beside her. "You can't just leave. Where else will be safe for you to go?"

"As if living here is safe," retorted Sophie. "I'm going home. It was foolish to try and seek my own fortune. I'm the eldest, after all," she said, her voice cracking a bit at the end.

Howl gently grabbed her and looked at her, his eyes, for once, serious. "And marry that ex-fiance of yours?"

Sophie averted her eyes.

"You're different than the other girls here, Sophie. You aren't afraid to do something that most girls wouldn't even consider. You broke off a ridiculous engagement, ran away from home, and wanted to make your way in the world even though you're the eldest. You can't just go back."

He was right. She knew it. But still, being here? In Howl's moving castle? It wasn't just indecent, it was ridiculous!

...And yet...

Biting her lip for a moment, Sophie then replied, "I'll be your cleaning lady. This place needs to be cleaned up. And if you try to do anything, you'll regret it," she threatened, struggling not to blush too much.

Looking pleased, Howl held up his right hand and swore he wouldn't do anything. Sophie wasn't sure if she should trust him, but she sighed and muttered, "Well, all right, then."

Howl cheerfully told her that she could sleep in the space underneath the steps, and with that, he waved his hands and made a bed appear inside the little space. Sophie thanked him, albeit somewhat stiffly, and brought her bags into her "room". Howl then announced he was leaving; he had business to attend to. Sophie wanted to say, "What, tricking innocent girls into thinking your decent?" but held her tongue. _I'm still rather mousy after all, _she mused with a smile.

He left, and for the first time Sophie was left completely to her thoughts. It was completely ironic--mousy Sophie, becoming not-so-mousy and breaking an engagement, then running away from home only to become the cleaning lady for Horrible Howl. Sophie now wondered whether it was a blessing or a mistake. Yes, she had a roof over her head, an occupation, she could live in multiple places at once, and she wasn't expected to pay rent, but she was also taking residing in the infamous moving castle. She decided she would live here until she gained enough money to find a better place. Until then, she would make do.

The fire creature in the hearth called her over, interrupting her thoughts. She went over cautiously, wondering, _If Calcifer gets angry at me, will he burn me? _

"So, you'll be living with us, will you?" he asked, his grin showing his pointy teeth.

"For now, I suppose." She paused. "I'm sorry if this seems rude, but...well, I never really conversed with a fire before, so...what _are _you?"

"Can't say, sorry. What I can say, though," here, his grin grew wider, "is that Howl and I have a contract."

Sophie blinked. "A contract?"

"Yep. It keeps me chained And you have the ability to break the contract."

"Me?" Sophie gaped at Calcifer. What on earth made him think she could break it?

"You have more power than you realize. I can tell just by looking at you. But anyway, you seem like a person who doesn't like to see other beings, human or no, suffering, and you wouldn't want me to suffer, right?" Calcifer gave her a pleading look.

"In other words, your exploiting me," Sophie observed, already feeling herself wanting to agree to help him.

"No! I'm the one being exploited! I'm stuck in this stupid hearth all the time, and I have to heat the water, cook the food, and move the castle! It's too much for one little guy!"

Sophie thought about how, in the hat shop, she felt exploited and wanted so desperately for it to end. Sophie bit her lip, thinking. Then, "Alright. I'll help you. But how do I break it?"

"I like you," announced Calcifer, replacing his pitiful look with a joyful one. "Howl needs someone like you around; you might rub off on him. I can't exactly tell you how to break the contract, but I'll tell you what, I'll give you hints. When you find out something that'll help break the contract, I can talk about that a little bit with you, but if you don't, I can't."

Sophie frowned. "This is going to be hard, isn't it?" She sighed. "Well, I'm ready for my first hint."

"I can't tell you when you're expecting a hint. That's telling you information. Hints have to be subtle," informed Calcifer.

Sophie groaned. "Oh, for goodness's sake! Well, when am I _possibly _going to get a hint?" she demanded.

Calcifer cackled. "You have spunk, too! You might get one tomorrow."

"Well, alright, then." She glanced over at some bread and cheese. "Will you mind if I make grilled cheese?"

"No way!" Calcifer protested. "I never allow anyone to use me, except Howl, and that's just because he has that contract with me!"

"Oh, hush. It's not going to kill you. Besides, we have our own little agreement. If you don't let me cook, I may not be able to break your contract," Sophie said with a smile.

He grumbled, "You sadist," and got ready to cook. "I hope your grilled cheese burns."

**Prettyinpinkgal: I'm considering making this also a crossover with AIR TV, a Japanese anime. I'll either incorporate it into this story or create a seperate story for the crossover. In the seperate story, it will take place directly after HMC. Please let me know your thoughts! Sorry, I know I'm doing another vote--heh--but I want to write something that most readers will be satisfied with. So, should the crossover be in a seperate fanfic, or in "Destiny"? Please review and vote! Thank you very much!! **


	5. Author's Note: AIR TV

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Sorry, everyone; I thought when I posted the last chapter that I put some information on AIR TV down. I was very out of it yesterday (although I'm usually out of it) lol!

Anywho, AIR is the story of Yukito Kunisaki, a traveller who uses his unique puppetteering ability to raise money. He's also searching for someone who is connected to the legend of the "girl in the sky", the legend which has been passed down for generation after generation in his family. The girl in the sky is cursed, and therefore the girl on earth connected to her will be as well. Yukito then meets three girls, one of whom he becomes great friends with and stays in her home. He now has to decide who is cursed, before it is too late.

It's a very sweet anime that will make you cry and laugh (and it's coming out in America on August 14!!! YES!!!!) and is a definite favorite of mine. Please let me know if you want it in this story or in another story! Thanks very much, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter when it's out!


	6. In Which Sophie Hears Terrible News

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hey! Okay, I decided not to include the AIR crossover in this fanfic; it would be fun to write, but I don't want this fic to be too dramatic (watch, now that I said that it will be lol! That's how it always is with me XP). So, this is just gonna be a mix of my own ideas and the book--I have not planned any other Pride and Prejudice references, but that may change. I am planning, however, on making some crossover of HMC and AIR in a new fanfiction (the first chapter for that is finished, so I shall post that after this chapter), so please read it when it comes out:) Thanks to everyone who voted :D  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HMC. It belongs to Diana Wynne Jones, not me. TT Any recognizable text is not mine.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER FOUR: IN WHICH SOPHIE HEARS TERRIBLE NEWS**

Within a few hours, Sophie realized cleaning Howl's castle was task more difficult than she had first thought. She had terrified Calcifer with her determined cleaning. Sophie discovered additional residents to Howl's moving castle: spiders. The poor creatures scrambled for shelter from her cleaning. By the time Michael came back, he did a double take as he realized the entire downstairs was nearly sparkling.

"Michael," wailed Calcifer, "you have no idea how lucky you are to be able to leave the castle whenever you want!"

Michael simply stared at the room. He had never, ever, in the entire time he had lived in the castle, seen it this clean. He could actually see the carpet in some places!

"What _happened?_" he breathed as he gaped at the sight.

"Sophie. Sophie happened," moaned Calcifer.

At that moment, Sophie, who had been upstairs surveying what there was to be done (and was finding that she felt quite overwhelmed), came down and noticed Michael. "Oh, hello," she said with a smile.

"Did you...did you actually manage to _clean _all this?" he replied in a shocked voice, waving his arms to gesture to the entire room.

Sophie grinned sheepishly. "Yes. Although there's still much more I have to do..."

Michael grinned. " I can't believe you managed to clean all this!"

Sophie wiped her forehead. "Yes, but there's still so much more...I have the hallway upstairs, your room--"

Michael's smile became frozen. "My room...?" He stood there for a second more, then ran upstairs quickly. As nice as Sophie seemed, she seemed dangerous with a broom. And having her attack _his _room...

"What was that all about?" Sophie wondered out loud. Shrugging, she went to the silverware and dishes. Upon opening the cupboards, she shrank back with disgust. _Doesn't that man clean even when he's about to eat something?_

"Having fun?" Calcifer's voice cackled from the hearth, chuckling over the expression on Sophie's face.

She sighed in reply, then rolled up her sleeves. _I insisted on being the cleaning lady. I can't just give up!_ She got back to work.

* * *

When Howl returned that evening, he appeared to think he walked into the wrong moving castle. "Well, Sophie," he said, sounding mightily pleased, "I must say, you did quite well, especially in only one day." 

Sophie couldn't help but grin a bit as she continued eating her dinner. Howl looked shocked that she was able to "bully" Calcifer into cooking and said so. At this, Sophie's grin became an irritated frown and she retorted how it wasn't bullying; she and Calcifer simply had a compromise.

"Yeah, a compromise," Calcifer grumbled, sounding miserable. He then glared at Howl. "But at least she _appreciates _my work!"

Michael jumped in to prevent a row between the two. "Oh! So, Howl? I had a question about how to do this," he said quickly, changing the subject as he pointed to a sheet of paper.

Instead of Howl answering, he suddenly jumped up from his seat at the table. "Sophie!" he bellowed.

"I'm right here!" retorted the new cleaning lady. "You don't need to--"

"Spiders!" he cried, scrambling over to her. His face looked worried for the first time since Sophie met him.

Sophie frowned. "You mean there are still spiders here? I've been trying to get rid of those little beasts for at least a good five hours!"

Marble eyes glared at her. "You mean you've _kicked out MY spiders_?"

Michael explained to Sophie, casting anxious glances towards Howl, "Um, Howl really loves spiders--"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, SOPHIE?!" Howl bellowed, making the castle tremble. Michael covered his ears while Sophie winced. "YOU CAN'T JUST GO AROUND GETTING RID OF OTHER PEOPLE'S SPIDERS!"

"Wh-what," Sophie started, determined not to give in and cower. "Were those spiders actually the girls whose hearts you ate?"

To her surprise, Howl's expression turned from fury to a complete blank to exremely amused. "No, no, they were just simple spiders," he said, almost condescendingly. "And didn't I tell you that I don't actually eat hearts? What do you think of that, Miss Hatter?"

"I think," Sophie said slowly, folding her arms and looking away, "you have a personality disorder."

Obviously caught off guard, Calcifer cackled that fiery laugh of his, and even Michael ended up laughing. Sophie turned towards them, and giggled a bit to herself.

Howl frowned at Michael and Calcifer. The apprentice immediately looked embarrassed and ashamed of himself, while the fire creature continued to cackle.

"It's about time someone other than me put Horrible Howl in his place!" Calcifer cried.

"Believe me, Calcifer, you do it well enough by yourself," grumbled Howl. "And would you mind not laughing at my expense?" he told Sophie.

The latter, feeling strangely giddy, resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. What was it about this place? Perhaps Howl put an enchantment on her to make her not want to run away from the castle? No, she would have noticed. So why did she feel so at home here? Michael already felt like the younger brother she never had, and Calcifer, as frightening as he looked, was actually quite pleasant company. Not quite a friend--could one befriend fire?--but still, a nice acquaintance, whether he acted sarcastic or not.

And what did she think of Howl? Sophie was rather certain now that he wasn't as evil and conniving as she once thought. He had his faults, nonetheless. He was overly dramatic, seemed quite conceited, and did things without thinking--such as bringing Sophie to the moving castle.

...Then again, the only reason Howl had done so was to protect her. Thinking back, Sophie could have received a worse fate than cleaning the castle. As Howl had previously said, there were dangerous men that would attack a girl traveling by herself. Perhaps he really _did _take her to his castle to keep her safe, and not to do the opposite. But then, this _was _the man nicknamed Horrible Howl. There must have been some reason for his terrifying reputation. Perhaps he hadn't eaten hearts or captured souls, but he must have done _something _to make him so feared among the people of Market Chipping other than owning a frightening moving castle.

Sophie snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed Howl was actually being rather quiet for once. She looked at him and realized with a start that he was staring at her with a thoughtful expression.

"What is it?" Sophie asked, feeling frustrated that she could feel heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Nothing," responded Howl, unfazed. He continued to stare at her, curiosity in his eyes.

Sophie yanked her gaze from his and realized Michael had gone upstairs. Calcifer was being silent, hidden beneath the logs. The small, distorted light shining from beneath the logs cast a mysterious glow on Howl and Sophie. The light lit up his mesmerizing eyes, and made her red-gold hair sparkle.

Howl continued to stare at her.

"It's rude to stare," Sophie said quietly, trying to sound agitated but ended up coming across embarrassed.

"I'm just thinking," replied Howl. A small smile touched his lips. It wasn't a smirk, nor a teasing grin. It was genuine.

Sophie turned to the table to pick up the dishes, but realized the table was clean and clear of the dishes. She turned towards the sink and saw the dishes were being cleaned, stacked, and put away on their own.

She whirled around towards Howl. "Are you doing this?" she asked, pointing towards the flying dishes. She knew Howl had powers, but aside from him taking her to the moving castle, she'd never seen him use them.

Howl still had yet to take his eyes off her. "I was wondering when you'd notice," he said, his smile becoming larger.

"But...well...I'm supposed to...Why are you doing this?" she asked, still shocked.

Howl finally moved. He stood up and turned towards the stairs. Looking at her over his shoulder, he said, "I have to do something that will make you think better of me. After all, I'm thinking I just might fall in love with you next." With that, he bid her goodnight and went upstairs.

**Prettyinpinkgal: I'm sorry this chapter took so long! In case you didn't understand the title, Sophie's not going to be comforted in knowing that she just might be his next love interest! So to her, it's terrible news. Or is it? You'll have to find out next chapter! Please review; much thanks!**


	7. In Which Sophie Makes a Mistake

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hey everyone! I just realized: I've officially written 50 stories/poems on FanFiction! "The Thousandth Summer" is my 50th! Wow. Maybe I'm too obsessed with writing. Even my friend Chichi told me last year, "You have too much free time!" How true, lol! But I want to be a real novelist one day, and to do that I need practice! And I love writing, so I don't think I'll ever stop! Thanks everybody for taking the time to read and review; your critiques and encouragement have really helped me improve over the past two years! I recently went back and read over my first fanfiction, "Christmas Miracles" for the anime "Kaleido Star", and I really feel like I've matured as a writer. So I just wanted to say thank you very much!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Howl's Moving Castle. Disclaimers are so depressing, aren't they? They always say what you _don't _have or own. TT**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER FIVE: IN WHICH SOPHIE MAKES A MISTAKE  
**

Sophie stared at the spot where Howl had stood seconds before, the impact of his words sinking in.

_"After all, I'm thinking I just might fall in love with you next."_

He was just joking. It was just one horrible joke. He couldn't be planning on falling for her. It was...

Sophie slumped into a chair. She knew she wasn't ugly (she wouldn't go so far as to say she was beautiful), and Howl was interested in any girl who looked pretty, so was it possible...?

"Well, how about that?"

The girl nearly jumped five feet in the air, her heart thudding in her chest. "Calcifer!" she growled. "Don't scare me like that!"

The fire grinned. "Sorry."

"And what do you mean by 'how about that'? You weren't eavesdropping, were you?" Sophie narrowed her eyes.

"I can't help it. I'm _stuck here_," he emphasised, all but saying, "You have to break the stupid contract if you want privacy!" He continued. "It breaks my _heart _to never get out of this hearth."

"Do you even have a heart?" Sophie asked skeptically. _I'd rather be bickering with Calcifer than dwelling on the fact that Howl just might be about to fall for me. Oh dear, I just thought of it again!_

"Yes, I do," Calcifer stated, looking at Sophie expectantly.

"Alright, so you may have a heart. Anyway," she said, standing up, "I'm going to bed."

His shimmering face fell, then replied, "This early?"

"It's been a long day. I'm tired."

Calcifer smiled maniacly. "I'm sure you have had a long day, especially with Howl saying--"

"Shut _up_!" With that, Sophie stormed to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

* * *

Sophie walked out of her little "bedroom" the next morning, her face visibly showing the weariness of yesterday's work and a restless night. She had spent hours thinking about what Howl had said. And when she would stop thinking of Howl, she'd think triumphantly,_ That's right. No more thinking about Howl. Or that he might fall for me. Or... Oh, drat, _she would then groan mentally as her mind went right back to the very subject she was trying so desperately to ignore. 

"Good morning, Calcifer," she said quietly to the fire, who was just beginning to awaken.

"Mornin', Sophie. Have trouble sleeping? You look tired," he said with a grin that would look malicious to most people.

"I suppose I'm just tired from cleaning all day yesterday," she replied, annoyed. Calcifer was just loving this, wasn't he?

"Suuuuure," he drawls.

Sophie shot him a glare in response.

"Morning!" Sophie turned to see Michael practically skip down the steps.

"Good morning, Michael. I was just about to start making breakfast," replied Sophie, sending a meaningful look at the fire before Calcifer could protest.

"Fine," Calcifer grumbled as Sophie began cracking some eggs.

Michael spoke up cheerfully. "None for me, thanks. I'm going out."

He whistled as he walked to the door, turning the dial and walking out the door. Sophie and Calcifer looked at each other. "What was that all about?" they said in unison.

"What was what all about?" a third voice asked from the stairs. Sophie froze.

Calcifer spoke up when Sophie didn't mutter a word. "Michael was happy this morning," he said with a meaningful tone.

Sophie heard Howl come down the steps and could imagine him shrugging. "So? It's not unusual for him to be in a good mood, is it?"

"He was _skipping_. And he practically ran out the door to Market Chipping."

Sophie glanced swiftly at Howl to see his eyes widen and then a grin appear. "I see. So Michael's finally found himself a girlfriend."

"Seems that way."

Howl then turned his attention towards Sophie, who quickly looked away. "Good morning, Sophie," he said smoothly.

_Oh, I hate him! How on earth can he be so calm and collected after telling me last night... GAH! He is so irritating! And he expects me to be unfazed by...by... _

_But wait. I SHOULD be unfazed by it. After all, he said he MIGHT fall in love with me. He hasn't done so yet. And I don't have feelings towards him, so I shouldn't care..._

_This is the first time anyone's ever said anything like that to me, though. I've always been the eldest, the one who would fail, even at love. No man has ever given me a second glance. But here's Howl, saying... _

_He was teasing me last night. That's the only explanation as for why he's acting so calm. So..._

Sophie kept thinking about this circumstance she suddenly found herself in, and thought about why she couldn't fully complete a thought. So deep was she in thought that she only heard Howl say "Sophie?" the second time around.

Sophie brought herself back to the real world. "What?" she muttered, mentally wincing that she couldn't be so calm about this whole thing.

"I asked you what we were having for breakfast."

Just a joke, just a joke, just a joke...

"Eggs and bacon."

"Sounds good."

"Mmm."

"Will you come outside with me for a second?"

Sophie looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise. Her insides tightened up in anxiety as she nodded.

Calcifer groaned. "Aw, come on! How am I supposed to hear what's going on if you guys go outside?"

"That's the point, Calcifer," Howl said with a smirk. He grabbed Sophie's hand before she could protest and took her to the door, spinning the knob around and taking outside.

They were standing outside the moving castle, the sun momentarily blinding Sophie. She tried unsuccessfully to take her hand from Howl's, but he just held her hand tighter as he shut the door. Sophie tried again, getting annoyed. The more he held her hand like this, the more she would think how warm his hand was, and how she didn't mind it as much as one would have thought.

"I--" Howl began, once he was sure Calcifer couldn't listen in.

Sophie cut him off. "That was a terrible joke you pulled last night," she said bluntly.

Howl blinked. "Joke? You think what I said last night was a joke?"

"Of course. What else would it be?" She crossed her arms as she glared at him.

He laughed. Laughed! "My dear Sophie, I was quite serious. I washed the dishes for you yesterday, remember? Isn't that proof enough?"

"We have an agreement," Sophie snapped. Being angry was better than acting like an embarrassed little mouse.

"I promised I wouldn't do anything. And I won't do anything indecent. I'm not that terrible."

Sophie blushed at his words.

"So you see," he continued, "I'm not breaking my promise. There. Do you feel better now?" He smiled at her, trying to win her over, no doubt.

"You're--you are--ugh!" Sophie cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

Howl grinned. "You are different than the other girls I've met. But I'm sure you'll come around eventually. I think by tomorrow I may just be completely in love with you, So--"

The slap left a satisfyingly loud sound. "Sophie," Howl whined as he rubbed his cheek, "that's the second time in less than twenty-four hours!"

"You're disgusting!"

Howl blinked, snapping out of his dramatics. Sophie stood before him, her eyes welled up with tears--from anger or embarrassment or whatever, Howl had no idea. But he hated seeing girls cry. Especially when they cry after he breaks up with them. It always led to ackward moments.

Sophie continued, trembling with emotion. "You just decide to fall for any girl, then you break their heart after you're done toying with them! It's cruel, and horrible, and you're conceited enough to think that whoever you set your sights on will fall head-over-heels in love with you when you tell them you 'love' them! Well, I'm not going to! And may God help the next girl you decide to pursue!" She stormed into the castle, leaving Howl speechless.

He stood there for a few moments, then struggled to regain his composure. What he was feeling right now...wasn't what he felt with the other girls he fell for. So he couldn't love Sophie. But then, it wasn't brotherly affection, and it was more than friendship...what was it? What was it about Sophie Hatter that made him feel so...so...strange?

He shook his head. He had to go. He would be late for his meeting with the king. He could wonder about this later.

Howl said the words to transport himself to Kingsbury. For the next few hours, Sophie's face, angry yet beautiful, would stay in his mind.

* * *

"Geez, Sophie, be careful!" Calcifer yelled, narrowly dodging some water that spilled from the tin she had set down roughly. 

"Sorry," Sophie grumbled, angrily scrubbing the floor. She would have to take out the rest of her anger out on the small amount of dirt that had appeared since she had last cleaned. And it would be good to have something to do. If she didn't have anything to do, she would have to think about her actions and regret how she yelled at Howl. Maybe what she said was true, but she didn't have to yell at him about it, did she?

Grr...cleaning wasn't helping whatsoever. It might keep her hands occupied, but her mind could still wander. "I need to go out. Then I can get my mind off of all this," she said to herself.

Calcifer, meanwhile, watched this with great amusement, as well as a bit of sympathy for Sophie. She was too good to be around someone like Howl. "Go ahead and enjoy yourself in one of the towns. The castle won't get filthy again after only a few years," he told her with a grin.

Sophie smiled at him. "Alright. Well, I'll see you in a while, Calcifer." She put her cleaning supplies away, then fixed her hair so she looked presentable.

She could go to Porthaven, her original destination. She certainly couldn't go to Market Chipping. What if she ran into Fanny or Mr. Collins or one of her sisters? They would try to get her to go home. She couldn't see them so soon; she would have to wait a while.

Kingsbury was an option...wait, no, she couldn't go there. Howl was there. So much for that idea.

Sophie went to the door and saw the black blob. It roused her curiousity. _Curiousity killed the cat_, she reminded herself, but it was no use. She felt herself giving into her curiousity. "Just a peek..." she told herself, turning the knob.

Calcifer watched in silence. _This should be interesting, _he thought.

The door opened, and Sophie saw pitch-black darkness. She shivered. "It feels farther than the moon!" She went to close the door.

Before she could, however, she stepped on a spot she forgot to dry after cleaning.

She seemed to fall forward in slow motion. Sophie had enough time to flail about slightly, but it didn't help. She faintly heard Calcifer shout, "Hey! Sophie!" Then she was gone.

The door slowly creaked to a close, hiding the darkness.

**Prettyinpinkgal: The idea of Sophie going to Wales hit me yesterday while I was going out. I kept musing about it in the car, and so now I have the basic idea for the next few chapters in my mind. When I first thought about it, I nearly cracked up because I was really hyper and I thought about Sophie falling thanks to the banana peel that keeps appearing in Ouran High School Host Club. I have weird humor XP **

**Seriously, though. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please read and review! Many thanks to all of you who have been reading, reviewing, etc. :D **


	8. In Which Sophie is Quite Lost

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello everyone! So many reviews:D Thanks you guys! And thanks also to Rose, who congratulated me for reaching 50 stories/poems :D **

**The town near Rivendell I decided would be Knighton. No real reason for this, I just don't really know much about Wales and it was a random town name I saw from there, so yeah. I should learn from some of the writers on here who actually do a lot of research when it comes to their fanfiction. -.-" Also, I don't know exactly how big Rivendell is, but I picture it to be pretty large. That's why Neil and Sophie seem to have quite a lot of time to chat (really, it's only a couple minutes). As for Neil's age, I think since he knows curse words and seems pretty serious, he'd be around thirteen. This could be wrong, but it's a fanfic, so oh well. XP **

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Howl's Moving Castle". T.T Any recognizable text is from HMC. **

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER SIX: IN WHICH SOPHIE IS QUITE LOST**

The darkness didn't last very long. It must have only been an inch thick, which was a relief to the poor distraught cleaning lady. She landed on her face, feeling like she broke her nose. Sophie bit back a word she learned from Martha.

She finally snapped out of her shock and slowly stood, feeling her nose to make sure it wasn't bleeding. "No monsters have attacked me, so that's a good sign," she murmured drily to herself. She looked around, wondering where the black nothingness had taken her. It seemed like a normal enough place--the sky was blue, the grass green. There were even homes, although they were of peculiar architecture. The street was not made of dirt, but it was completely black.

Sophie looked back and saw that the blackness had vanished. Upon further analysis, she found herself on a garden path in front of a yellow house.

At best, this was not good. With the black portal gone, she couldn't get back to the castle. Just as this thought was sinking in, a rumbling sound entered Sophie's ears. She whirled towards the strange street and gazed in fear as she saw something shiny with darkened windows move with frightening speed down the hard path. Sophie let out an "eep!" and backed away from the thing, although she was already a sufficient distance from the street. The horseless carriage was gone soon enough, anyway. At least, she thought it was a horseless carriage. _Maybe Howl was telling the truth! Maybe that was really one of the monsters! _she cried in her mind.

Sophie's attention was distracted from the carriage/monster when she heard a child's giggle from behind. Whirling around and eager to see any sign of human life, Sophie saw a little girl skipping from around the side of the house with a woman walking behind her.

"Mari! Be careful not to soil your dress!" the woman, whom Sophie presumed to be Mari's mother, told the child in an annoyed voice. "And go inside and tell Neil to hurry up and get out here so we can go to town. That boy spends too much time in front of those blasted video games your uncle spoils him with!"

Upon seeing Sophie standing on the garden path, both Mari and her mother stopped short. "Um, hello," Sophie said awkwardly.

"Hello. What can I do for you? Wait--" the woman added without waiting for an answer, glaring, "--if it's Howell you are looking for, he's not here."

"I-I'm not looking for anyone named Howell. I'm trying...well, you see..." Something in the back of her mind told her she shouldn't really mention that she came here from another world.

The little girl would have cut Sophie off regardless, seeing as she ran up to Sophie and gaped. "Wow! You're so pretty! I like your hair!" Mari cried with a big smile.

Sophie smiled back with a little blush. "Well, thank you! I like your hair, too. And you're _much _prettier than I am."

Mari's grin grew even larger as she whirled around and cried, "Mother! Did you hear! She says I'm prettier than she is!"

"Yes, I heard, Mari. Now run along now and get your brother!" The girl sighed, threw a quick smile at Sophie, then ran up the porch steps to enter the yellow house named Rivendell. The woman turned back to Sophie with a look that made the Ingorian girl feel both annoyed and intimidated. "You said you were here because...?"

"Well, I'm rather lost," replied Sophie quite honestly.

The woman frowned more. "So you're a tourist? That would explain it. Although most tourists wouldn't dress like _that_," she said, eyeing Sophie's clothes.

Sophie blushed, but was unsure of what to say. This woman before her certainly dressed much differently than herself. Luckily, Sophie didn't have to confess she had no clue what a tourist was, because the woman went on talking. She seemed like the type of person who only liked the sound of her own voice, and liked to use her voice to nag.

"You were probably on your way to Knighton. Where's your car?"

"I don't--"

"You don't have a car? Didn't you rent one when you came to Wales? You must have taken a cab, then. How on earth did you get lost in the first place?"

"I--"

"Oh well. I was taking my children to Knighton anyway. You can just ride with us. You're just a kid yourself, anyway, so I think it should be okay."

"Ac--"

"Honestly, where are those two? They always dawdle when we're going to leave somewhere. Here they are. Neil, what took you so long?" the woman demanded.

Mari had appeared with Neil, who looked like he would much rather play with those video games his mother had mentioned earlier (what were video games, anyway?). He shrugged in reply to his mother, saying, "I was playing video games. I almost beat Leve--"

"That's nice, Neil. This is," gesturing to Sophie, then pausing. "I'm sorry. What did you say your name was?" the woman asked Sophie.

"I'm Sophie Hatter."

"I'm Megan Parry. These are my children, Neil and Mari. My husband Gareth is working right now," replied Megan. To her children, she said, "Sophie will be riding with us. Now, everybody into the car." She led the way as Neil, Mari, and Sophie followed, the latter wondering what on earth a car was.

Neil walked with Sophie, and asked her where she was from (she had to lie here, saying she was from all over), if she was going out with his uncle Howell, etc. Sophie still had no idea who this Howell person was, but he seemed like he was the type of person to court any girl at any time. _That sounds familiar, _Sophie thought wryly, thinking about Howl. She wasn't quite so angry anymore; if she saw Howl in this foreign place, she would most likely hug him in relief than yell at him.

Neil continued to ask her questions, once they arrived at a small building apparently called a "garage". He seemed to really like her. Sophie, in turn, asked him what grade he was in, if he really liked video games (she already knew the answer to this, but Neil got really talkative about this subject), and some other questions. She caught Neil looking at her a few times with his face red, then he hurriedly looked away once their eyes made contact. As Megan pulled up the garage door, Sophie thought about her own situation, starting to tune Neil's explanation about his video game out.

Sophie didn't really want to leave Rivendell, since she had a feeling the door to the castle was still around the house somewhere, but she didn't want to risk seeming suspicious, either. The last thing Sophie wanted was to have Megan angry at her. She seemed like the type of person who would be vicious when angry.

Although Megan's wrath didn't seem too bad once Sophie realized what a car was.

* * *

Michael arrived home whistling. "Hello, Calcifer," he greeted dreamily. 

Calcifer's serious tone threw him off. "Michael, there's a problem."

The boy frowned. "What's the problem? And where's Sophie?" When he noticed Calcifer's meaningful look, he understood. "Did she leave? I was wondering how long she could stand living with Howl, but..."

"She didn't leave on her own. She fell through the door."

"So?"

"When the black blob was down."

Michael froze. No one was allowed to use that portal except for Howl. _No one_.

"And she isn't back yet?" Michael asked, his voice filled with curiosity on where the portal led to, as well as anxiety for Sophie.

"Does it look it?" Calcifer snapped. "I think only Howl is able to find the castle door on the other side."

"Then how's Sophie going to get back to Ingary?"

"I don't think she'll be able to get back on her own. We'll have to tell Howl once he gets back."

Michael shuddered. "He'll get really mad, you know. You know how he gets when he's really angry."

Calcifer sighed. "I know. But it's better than Sophie being stuck in who-knows-where." _Besides, _he thought, _if she's gone, who'll break the contract?_

* * *

Sophie bit her lip to keep from screaming as the car went over and down hills. It really was a horseless carriage, but it was still terrifying. 

"Are you alright?" Megan had asked her earlier when Sophie first got in. "Your face is pale."

"I'm fine," Sophie replied, struggling to keep her tone even. _Maybe once we ride for a few minutes, I'll get used to it._

She hadn't.

"So, Sophie. Do you have a boyfriend?" asked Neil, clearly attempting to keep his tone nonchalant but coming across as quite anxious.

"Neil," Megan said in a meaningful tone. "You're thirteen."

"How old are you, Sophie?" Neil asked, ignoring Megan's tone completely.

"Eighteen," replied Sophie, turning around to look at Neil. This was nice, since she wouldn't have to look through the large window that had been in front of her.

Neil's eyes got large. "Wow, really?"

"Neil, don't even think about it!" Megan's voice cut in.

Sophie faced forward again, keeping her eyes on her fingers that clutched her dress so she wouldn't look and see how fast they were moving and how steep the hills were.

* * *

They arrived in Knighton, a bustling town that consisted of people not dressed at all like Sophie (with the exception of some elderly women who had long dresses on), more of those terrible cars, and many flashing lights. 

Megan parked at the side of the street, then told Sophie cheerfully, "Well, this is your stop! Take care!"

"T-thank you. It was nice meeting you. You too, Neil, Mari," Sophie said, hastily getting out of the car and breathing a sigh of relief to be standing safely on the ground.

"Bye, Sophie!" Mari cried, giving Sophie a hug. Sophie hugged back, smiling to herself. Mari was such a sweet girl.

"It was_ really _nice meeting you, Sophie," Neil said in almost a dreamy tone. Sophie just smiled awkwardly in return. Neil seemed like a good boy, but it seemed almost as if he was developing feelings for her.

But of course that was impossible.

"Thank you again!" Sophie called as the family walked away. Neil walked backwards with his eyes on Sophie until his mother bopped him on the head and whispered harshly in his ear. Sophie just shrugged and walked away.

Then she realized she had no idea where she was walking to.

Sophie spotted a bench and sat there, contemplating. How on earth had she ended up here? Only days before she had simply been an engaged woman working at her family's hat shop. Then she became the cleaning lady for Horrible Howl, who claimed he was about to fall for her. After that, she fell through a magic door into a foreign world.

Plenty of proof that the eldest should never seek her fortune.

Sophie sighed, then gazed up at the sky. A low rumble--this time, not from a car--sounded, and Sophie blushed, although no one had heard. "I suppose I need some food. But will they take my money?" she said aloud.

Getting up, she walked around, hoping to find somewhere that sold food. Luckily, it wasn't hard to find. Almost every corner had restaurants. She spotted a stand that would hopefully be cheap. Pretending to look at the menu, she walked to the front and watched out of the corner of her eye as the person next to her paid. Sophie frowned. _Drat! I don't have money like that!_

She turned and walked slowly away. "I'm hungry, I'm lost, I can't buy anything... This is all my fault! I never should have broken the engagement with Mr. Collins! I _knew_ I shouldn't live with Howl, but _nooo_, I wanted to seek my bloody fortune!" Her voice gradually increased as she paced in a circle, drawing the attention of several passersby. "I hate being the eldest! If, say, _Lettie _had been born first, this wouldn't be my problem! Wait, no, that's not fair to Lettie. I shouldn't put my problems on her. But this _is _all my fault! And why did I agree to leave that Rivendell place?! The portal might be there! No one's going to be able to rescue me either!

"Oh my gosh," Sophie gasped, as a new fear entered her mind. "I could die here! I have no food! I have no where to stay! I'll die, and no one will know! Fanny, Martha, and Lettie will never know what happened to me! Then there's poor Calcifer, being stuck in that contract! Michael will live in a home that will be covered in dust and will probably sufficate from it! And Howl...well, who cares about Howl? I'll die alone, and I'll just be forgotten, and I want to go home, for goodness's sake!" she yelled, tears welling up in her eyes. This was way too much to handle! She was supposed to be very sensible, but how could anyone be sensible at a time like this?

The passersby looked around, searching for a video camera in case this was part of a t.v. show. There were none. They looked at each other, and one said, "Are you okay?"

"No," groaned Sophie, sitting on the ground. She buried her face in her hands. Who cares if she made a spectical of herself? She didn't know any of these people and probably would never see them again!

"Please, everyone, leave the poor girl alone. Go on, shoo," a woman's voice said. It sounded musical, but it had a commanding tone to it.

Sophie raised her hand and saw the people move away, save two women. Everything about the woman who spoke looked gaudy. She turned to face Sophie with a smile. It seemed kindly meant, but something about it sent shivers down Sophie's spine. And the woman's face! She looked young, especially with her brown locks, but at the same time...

The other woman had a very serious look. She was quite beautiful, and looked much younger than the other.

"How do you do? My name is Miss Angorian," said the second woman, never cracking a smile.

_This is exactly the type of person Howl would fall for. If he saw Miss Angorian, he would turn his affections for me to her! Then I'd be safe from him, _Sophie thought. Somehow, this sent a little pain through her chest.

"And I am Miss Williams. Pleased to make your acquaintance," said the first woman, the one who had spoken.

"Pleased to meet you both," Sophie said with a sniff. "I'm Sophie Hatter."

Miss Williams clucked her tongue. "Poor dear. We are actually a little lost ourselves. We're looking for someone named Howl. Have you seen him? He also goes by Howell Jenkins."

Sophie's heart stopped. No, it couldn't be the same person. It was impossible. "I know someone by the name of Howl," Sophie replied slowly. "But he's not from around here."

Miss Williams smiled. Again, shivers ran down Sophie's back. "You are from Ingary?"

Sophie resisted the urge to cry, "Yes! Do you know how I can get home?" Something about this woman, and possibly the other woman too, was not right. "Ingary? Where is that?"

Miss Angorian's eyes seemed to flash. "Are you quite honest?"

"Are you suggesting I am lying?" retorted Sophie. What did these women want with Howl?

"Of course not, Miss Hatter. Here, take this. You still have some tears in your eyes," said Miss Williams, handing Sophie a handkerchief.

Once Sophie's hand came in contact with it, a little shock ran through her fingers. Surprised, she dropped it onto the filthy ground. "I-I'm so--"

"We ought to be going. If you do meet Howl, _please _give our regards to him. Do tell him we will see him soon," Miss Angorian said in a throbbing voice which irked Sophie.

"Of course," Sophie managed with a crooked smile.

"Ta-ta, Miss Hatter." Then they were gone.

Sophie sighed with relief. They were gone. Thank goodness! She looked at the crumpled cloth lying on the ground. There was something peculiar about that little handkerchief...

She stood, walked away, then looked back again.

The handkerchief had vanished.

* * *

All day, Sophie walked around Knighton, praying to find somewhere that sold food for free. No such luck. The sun had just set, but quite a bit of people were still venturing around town, particularly people Sophie probably shouldn't talk to. 

"I'm so hungry..." she muttered. She walked aimlessly, holding her stomach, and caught herself before she walked into an alley. _Oh, no. It's dark, there's rather frightening people walking about, and you know what happened last time you went in an alley!_

She turned away, walking back to where the light was. Sophie heard laughter coming from the dark alley, the type of laughter she had heard from some men who had been drinking. Immediately, Sophie's senses went on overdrive, and she walked a little faster away from the forbidding alley.

"Hey!" A large hand grabbed Sophie's shoulder. She whirled around to see eight men looking a few years older than herself. The one who had hold of her shoulder grinned in a disgusting and drunken way. His breath smelled horrible. "What's a girl like you doin' in a place like dis?" he drawled. His friends laughed and grinned at her.

_Howl! _she cried mentally. She didn't know why that name came to her mind, but--

"C'mon! How 'bout cha hang out wit us?" the man said in a way that made it not sound like a question.

"I have to go," she said timidly.

"Aww, don't go yet, cutie! We just wanna take ya on a date! And see how much money ya gots!" He sneered. He gripped her shoulder hard enough to make her cry out.

Then he dragged her into the alley, smacking her hard when she cried out for help.

**Prettyinpinkgal: Whew! I'm very proud of myself: I wrote a long chapter in two weeks! Yay! And I think this is my longest chapter yet! Please review! Thank you so much!!**

**Next time: What was with those women? Will Howl save Sophie? Will Sophie finally be able to eat something???**


	9. In Which Howl Almost Saves the Day

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hey! 55 reviews for this story so far!! WOOT! Thank you all very much! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own HMC. Any recognizable text was from the original novel. **

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER SEVEN: IN WHICH HOWL ALMOST SAVES THE DAY  
**

Howell Jenkins sighed as the sight of his home, disguised as an ordinary shop, came into view. He spent all day trying to slither out of a job the king had for him. When it finally worked, although it appeared the king would call for his services some other time, Howl had tried to avoid returning home for as long as possible. Sophie would surely make his life miserable if he didn't give her some more time to cool off.

Really, why was she so mad at him? He hadn't done anything that bad! It was ridiculous! Of course, telling Sophie this would surely make her even angrier and would probably result in her throwing a punch at him. She wasn't a very strong fighter, but nevertheless, much more of her abuse, and his perfect face would be ruined!

She really was a fiery redhead. Sophie had seemed so shy when he met her on May Day, and perhaps she usually was, but deep down she was a outspoken, stubborn woman. Howl certainly had enough women like _that _in his life. His own sister, for instance, and another lady he really would rather not think about. But--

"Crap!" Howl growled, using a word from his own world. It was raining on him now. Figures. _Calcifer will have a fit when he sees me. _He picked up the pace.

When he arrived home, he threw the door open, only to realize the door hit his apprentice. "What are you doing there? You were just asking for it!" Howl said before any comment could be made. He felt rather bad, but he wouldn't apologize. Howell Jenkins _never _apologizes.

"Ow... I was just going out to see if I could find you. There's...sort of an emergency," Michael said uneasily, rubbing his face, which had turned red from the impact of the door.

Howl closed the door and said he'd be back--he just wanted to get a quick, warm bath before he got a cold. Michael and Calcifer tried to tell him to wait, but to no avail. When it came to a bath and a chance to enhance his good looks, Howl would not wait for anything. Besides, he didn't really believe there was a so-called "emergency"; it was probably just his apprentice struggling with his work.

He kept his word, surprisingly enough. It was a rather quick bath for him. It lasted only twenty minutes! Michael and Calcifer looked at each other in shock when he came back down, his hair still rather damp.

"So," he started, "what is this emergency you were talking about?"

"Do you notice anyone missing?" Calcifer hinted.

Howl glanced at his friend and then at his apprentice. "The evil mouse isn't here," he joked. Then the impact of the meaning hit him. "Where is she?" he demanded, suddenly very anxious.

"She went through the door with the black blob down," Calcifer told him, frowning. "She still hasn't come back yet."

Howl stared at the fire. "She hasn't? She went to Wales?" This couldn't be happening. Who knows what could happen to her there? And he had thought it would be dangerous for her to be by herself in Ingary! Imagine her being alone in his own world! There were much more evil men there than in her world!

"I'll find her." With that, he bolted out the door to the land called Wales.

That was one hour ago.

* * *

"Leave me alone!" Sophie shouted, biting a hand that came near her. "I don't have any money!" 

"Ouch! She bloody bit me!" shouted the owner of the hand. "And don't lie to us, you wretch!"

The guy who had grabbed her shoulder painfully shoved her against a brick wall. She kicked him where it hurts. As he crumbled to the ground, the others ganged up on her, throwing her head roughly against the wall. The impact fazed her, making the faces before her seem to jumble together in a horrifying picture.

Then, all was quiet.

Sophie trembled as she slid to the ground, her back against the wall. She wasn't sure which was more frightening: the vicious cheers of excitement coming from the men or the dead silence. She didn't know what these people were planning to do next, but she certainly didn't want to find out.

_I can do something, _she thought numbly. _I can command them to go. _ But her mouth would not open. Instead, her trembling turned into violent shaking.

She was not crying. No, her fear was too consuming for her to do anything but shake. The silence lasted ages. In her heart, she knew it was not even half a minute, but it seemed like years.

Then she heard something.

A small panting sound, like someone who had just used up a great amount of strength. Or someone who was furious.

_So they are still here_, she thought. _Dear God, please save me._

Were they so furious that she had no money from this world that they would kill her? Or would they just hurt her so much she'd want to die?

Footsteps.

The sound of shoes coming nearer and nearer was a cruel psychological attack. She'd rather the pain just start now than have to keep anticipating it in awful anxiety.

The footsteps stopped just before her.

She heard shaky breath coming from one of them. Wait, no; it was her own. She gulped, and continued to wait, unable to do anything.

It was only when two hands grabbed each of shoulders that she was released from her stupor. "N-no! Please, no! Leave me alone! _Please!_" She pushed weakly against the person, frantically trying to make him go away.

He was talking.

"--phie. Sophie! SOPHIE!" He had let go of her.

She stopped. Slowly, her shaking ceased. The person was still there, she could tell. Taking a shuddering breath, then tried to open her eyes.

She looked up, and gazed into the marble eyes that belonged to the one person she had been so excited to get away from just hours earlier.

He was glaring at her. "What the _heck _were you doing in Wales?! I told you never to go through the door with the black part down! Are you really that rebellious and stupid? You fool!" he shouted.

Sophie made a strange sound. "H-Ho-Howl..." Then she covered her face with her hands and cried.

Sophie hated crying. She always felt like a little child when she would cry. She hated that feeling. And this was the second time she cried today! But she just couldn't hold it back. She cried out of fear, as well as relief.

Howl sighed when she began to cry. He leaned against the wall beside her and held her to him, allowing her to sob into his shirt. He didn't blame her one bit for crying. Anyone would after that experience. How terrifying it must have been for her, an Ingarian girl who seemed to have no knowledge for the world's evil, save for his own "dangerous" reputation.

They stayed like that for a while, him rubbing her back in a comforting way and whispering in Welsh to her while she continued crying, albeit not as much as she had been before. Once Sophie managed to calm down a bit, Howl said in a half-serious, half-joking manner, "I only cast a spell to make those guys disappear and end up in the middle of Siberia, but I can probably cast something to make hungry wolves attack them, too."

"W-what's Siberia?" Sophie hiccuped, her head still buried in the front of his shirt.

"It's part of a country called Russia. It's hundreds of miles away from here."

"What's th-this place called? I know this town is called Knighton, but..."

"Wales."

She looked at him in surprise, tears still clinging to her long eyelashes. "Are we under the sea?"

Howl barked a laugh. "Of course not, my dear Sophie!"

"Oh."

Suddenly, she added, "Do you also go by the name Howell Jenkins?"

Now it was Howl's turn to look shocked. "How did you know that?" he demanded.

"I heard a woman named Megan Parry mention someone named Howell, then her son Neil said something about his uncle Howell. Oh, and these two--"

"You met my sister?"

"Yes. When I accidentally fell through the portal..." And she continued, starting with meeting the Parry family, then about the monstrous horseless carriage in which Megan had driven her to Knighton. She then talked about getting lost and being unable to buy food. She was just about to get to the two women when Howl cut her off yet again.

"Honestly, Sophie," he said with a groan. "How on earth did you fall through the portal? Unless you were snooping," he added pointedly.

"I just wanted to take a peek," she retorted. "I saw the darkness and I was about to close it when I sort of accidentally slipped," she said, her voice becoming more embarrassed as she spoke.

Howell sighed. "It figures."

A rather large growl interrupted, making Sophie's hunger known. Her face turned bright red, almost as bright as the lights on the signs outside of the alley, she imagined.

Howl laughed. "I suppose we should get you home. I'll even be kind, although you don't deserve it for snooping, and make dinner for you."

He stood and went to help Sophie to her feet, but she stumbled due to dizziness from her dratted head. The only things that kept her from collapsing were Howl's arms. "Thank you," Sophie said in an almost-whisper.

"Don't mention it."

"No, for everything. You seem to be quite a coward--"

"Hey!"

"--but you helped me anyway. Thank you," she said, looking up at him with such a smile that Howl almost felt his disconnected heart skip a beat.

He looked away, slightly embarrassed for the first time in a long time. "It's easy to whisk ordinary humans to other lands," he grumbled. "Now come on, or I'll leave you behind."

He stopped, however, when Sophie groaned, gently touching the back of her head.

"What's wrong now?" Howl said, his voice void of the concern he felt.

"It's nothing."

"Sophie," he said in a threatening tone.

She sighed. "Fine. One of those scoundrals threw my head against the wall. It's probably starting to swell now."

Howl merely frowned, but his eyes looked so fierce that Sophie had to take a step back. "Are you sure you don't want me to send the wolves?"

"As wonderful as that sounds, no. Hopefully you whisking them to Siberia will be enough to teach them not to attack girls."

Howl sighed in resignation, then came over to Sophie and scooped her into his arms. Sophie, of course, threw a fit, but he ignored her, saying that if it hurt too much to walk, he'd carry her.

As soon as they entered the main street and Howell had sufficient light, he set the scowling girl down. He reached to touch her head.

"Don't! It hurts!" Sophie shouted, jumping away and glaring at him, then scowling because of the pain. Howell bit back a smile.

"Don't whine. I'm just going to see if there's a lot of blood."

Sophie visibly paled. "Please don't say that," she said. "I feel sick whenever I even _think _about blood."

"Just talk to keep your mind off it." Heaven knew she didn't need to be told twice.

Sophie began anxiously talking about how Neil and Mari were such sweet children, which Howl nearly laughed at. Maybe Mari was, but Neil hadn't been under the "Sweet" catagory for ages.

Brushing back some of Sophie's hair, they both gasped slightly at the touch. Both turned a bit red, then Howl resumed. He gave another quick intake of breath, this time because of the amount of blood. And from what he could tell, it was still bleeding quite a bit. He wouldn't be able to fix something like this; he'd have to take her to a hospital in his world.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked nervously. She must have heard his gasp.

"Nothing." But his voice came out a bit high. Howell wasn't too calm around blood, either, although his queasiness was nothing compared to how Sophie would feel if she knew how bad her injury was.

"Howl?"

"Yes?"

"I don't feel very well..."

Howl walked around to see Sophie's face. She was so pale, the lights seemed to make her glow. Why hadn't he noticed how she was feeling beforehand?

"I'm going to take you to a hospital from my world, alright? The doctors there are more trained than the ones in Ingary."

"Alright..." She took a step back, putting her hand to her forehead. "I think you might need to...carry me...again..." Then she fainted.

**Prettyinpinkgal: Now you see why the chapter is called "In Which Howl ALMOST Saves the Day"! I guess I could make this longer, but oh well. I want to make the Wales segment last longer, because I always wanted to read more about Wales in the novel, so I'll have to settle for making it longer in this story. :) Please review! Thank you! And I'm sorry for the pitifully obvious**** (or maybe just pitiful)**** moments in here, like with Sophie fainting.**


	10. In Which Sophie Returns and Leaves

**Prettyinpinkgal: So many reviews... You guys are awesome... **

**By the way, does anyone know the difference between pronouncing Howell and Howl? I keep thinking Howell sounds close to Howl, but it's Welsh, so I'm not sure if I'm thinking of the correct pronounciation. Could anyone help me please? It's been bugging me for a while.**

**Also, during the time before Christmas I might be writing another fanfiction (a rather short one) of HMC just for the Christmas season. It's going to be a crossover with "The Nutcracker", but it will be...rather odd. XD Lol! And for any reader that has read my other HMC fic "The Thousandth Summer", I WILL update that eventually! I just want to focus on finishing this and some other of my fanfiction first. But I think I might actually update before Christmas! (gasp) lol **

**Disclaimer: I don't own HMC. It belongs to DWJ. Not me. All recognizable text is from the book. And the ice cream reference is sort of inspired from the best movie ever (besides Studio Ghibli films and Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice) Forest Gump. Wow, typing just the name gave me the urge to have Howl say in this chapter, "I'm Forest, Forest Gu-ump." XP **

** DESTINY**

**CHAPTER EIGHT: IN WHICH SOPHIE RETURNS TO INGARY AND LEAVES THE CASTLE **

Howl paced the waiting room, feeling very restless. Sophie had been in the hospital for what seemed like forever. Howl wondered what she would do when she woke up in a strange place with wires hooked up to her. The doctors would probably speak English, but Sophie would probably shrink up like the little mouse she could be, especially after what had happened earlier.

At this thought, Howell clenched his fists. He hadn't wanted to hurt those guys; if Sophie had seen what he wanted to do to them, she probably would have been even more terrified. So he had simply whisked them away, although working magic in his world was not something he ought to have done. He'd be scolded for that when he returned to Ingary.

But she had cried.

The Sophie he knew, although shy at first, had seemed like she could hold her own. Seeing her so terrified...

"Mr. Jenkins?"

Howl whirled around and stopped pacing. "How is--?"

The doctor held up a hand to stop him. "Your friend is just fine. She has a mild concussion, and she lost some blood, but she should recover soon."

Howl sighed with relief. Then he asked, "Is she awake? May I see her?"

"She is still sleeping, but she should wake up shortly. You may sit with her, if you'd like."

Howl nodded, then went on his way to Sophie's room. He opened the door quietly, figuring she'd need her rest, then closed it just as silently behind him and went to sit in the seat placed beside Sophie's bed.

Her long ginger hair was out of its braid for once, appearing to shine underneath the light of the lamp beside her. Her face did not show any pain, but instead showed an innocence that surprised Howl. Once again, he was grateful he had found Sophie in time before those...

Her eyes fluttered open just then, then glanced around, apparently still half-asleep. Her eyes landed on him, tearing Howl from his thoughts. "Howl?"

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," he teased to hide his own conflicting emotions. "How's your head?"

"It feels like--" She paused. "Something I probably shouldn't say."

Howl laughed. "Well, it sounds like your almost back to your old self."

Sophie grinned tiredly. It was rather late, after all, and it had been a very long day. "What should I call you now?" she asked abruptly.

"What do you mean?"

"Should I call you Howell or Howl?"

Howl raised an eyebrow. "You're still thinking about that? Well, anyway, I suppose you ought to continue to call me Howl, unless we bump into my sister again. If we're in Ingary, you'd best stick to calling me Howl."

"Why do you have so many names?"

"I like to keep my privacy."

Sophie gave a light snort. "You probably just want to slither away from the girls you used to court."

"My dear Sophie!" Howl cried. "Do you really think so ill of me?"

She gave him a look that said, "Yes, I do."

"For your information, Mrs. Nose, there are some people that are after me, along with some other informations."

Sophie looked at him suspiciously. "You've been awfully honest," she said. In the short while she'd known Howl, it was obvious that he was what she would call a slither-outer and an extremely dishonest man.

He sighed pitifuly. "You would have badgered me until I told you anyway."

She snorted. She went to sit up and give him a piece of her mind mind about this new nickname she realized she had been given, but her head ached. Sophie snuggled deeper in the covers instead. "Where are we, anyway?"

"We're in a hospital in my world."

"...I see." Sophie frowned, discomforted by the sudden swell of homesickness she felt. Leaving the hat shop wasn't so bad. After all, she had moved into the moving castle, which was connected right to her hometown. But now she was in a different country, a different _world _even!

Feeling more alert, she noticed something stuck in her arm. Her face paled. "Um..." she said quietly, almost in a squeak.

Howl followed her line of vision and quickly said, "It's fine. It's just something to measure your pulse."

Sophie sighed, growing quite fed up with this strange world, wondering how such a tiny thing could possibly measure her pulse. Closing her eyes tightly as if the act would make the object vanish, she said, "Some ladies were looking for you."

She heard Howl mutter, "How long does it take a woman to understand that I'm not interested in her anymore?"

Sophie frowned and said in an annoyed tone, "Maybe you wouldn't have to deal with things like this if you would _stop treating women as objects to be played with_."

Howl laughed, slithering out of answering. Sophie opened her eyes to glare at him. "And by the way," she said, "they said their names were Miss Angorian and Miss Williams. They said they were looking for you, but it didn't seem like they wanted to beg to have you back. They seemed rather frightening."

"I don't recall anyone by those names. Were they attractive?"

Sophie grudgingly replied, "Yes." Of course he would ask that. She was about to add that they seemed to know about Ingary, but Howl cut her off. Surprise, surprise. Why was it that she just couldn't seem to tell him about scarcely anything regarding those two mysterious women?

"I see. Yes, they probably are women I used to court. Anyway," he said, abruptly changing the subject, "I've kept you awake too long. You're probably exhausted."

He had the look of someone who was concerned about her, but Sophie was sure he just wanted to avoid another argument about his habit of breaking hearts.

"Alright. Goodnight." And with that, she turned over so she no longer faced him.

* * *

"The answer is no!" 

It was the next afternoon, the sun shining into the hospital room so that all the "magic boxes", as Sophie liked to call them, were very evident. Sophie tried to avoid looking at her arm as she ate what Howl called ice cream. It was awfully cold (most likely why they call it _ice _cream) yet was quite delicious. Getting ice cream was the one good thing about hospitals. Howl had earlier explained there were many different flavors, and this was vanilla.

"Come on, Sophie," Howl whined. "Wales really isn't all that bad! So you had a bad experience yesterday. But Wales has some good qualities! You already like a dessert from this world," he said, nodding towards the ice cream cone in Sophie's hands.

Sophie snorted, but couldn't help taking another lick of her ice cream. "This is food. All food is delicious, especially when I didn't have scarcely any yesterday. But Wales is a horrible place overall. How could you bear to live here? Those..._cars_," she said with a shudder, "go far too fast and look like frightening monsters. And--"

"We can just walk around Knighton. No cars necessary."

"But..." Sophie licked at a drip running down the side of the cone. She tried to think of an excuse to get out of seeing more of Knighton. Walking around a place where she was attacked was not a comforting thought. But Howl seemed determined to give her a tour...why was he so set on it, anyway?

"As soon as I sign your hospital release papers, we can leave, alright?" Howl then walked out of the room, not giving Sophie any time to argue.

She sighed and finished her ice cream as she waited for him to return.

* * *

Howell was sure the Witch of the Waste was in Knighton somewhere. And if she wasn't in town _now_, she _had _been recently. When he woke up this morning, he could feel it. He could sense her magic. Howl must not have noticed it last night when he was focusing solely on Sophie. But now that Sophie was safe... 

Or was she? He could tell the Witch had been near her. Had theWitch noticed Sophie was from Ingary and assumed she knew him? Sure, Sophie's clothes were different than what was common in Wales, but the Witch could not have judged she was from Ingary on that alone. Had Sophie opened her big mouth and blurted out that she was from Ingary? Howl had thought she'd have at least a bit more sense than that!

But perhaps the Witch had not done anything to Sophie. Perhaps they had merely bumped into each other on the street. Still, Howell could not help but feel something awful had happened to Sophie thanks to the Witch.

Besides the Witch coming into contact with Sophie, another discomforting thought was that the Witch had been in Wales at all. It could not have been a coincidence that the Witch just felt like traveling to another world and just so happened to stumble upon his, then decided to take a tour of Wales, his home country, and then shop in Knighton, which was rather close to Megan's place.

Howl signed the hospital release forms, flashed a smile, which completely hid his uneasy feelings, towards the rather attractive nurse who was smiling flirtatiously at him, and quickly walked back to Sophie's room. As much as he hated bringing Sophie near the Witch of the Waste again, she might be able to identify who was the Witch. Howl could possibly find her on his own, but because the Witch liked to play with her prey, she often put up a barrier so that Howl would not recognize her. Sophie had some residue magic from the Witch, so she could probably recognise the Witch. Howl had heard rumors that anyone who came in contact with the Witch of the Waste's powers could somehow recognize her. Perhaps they were true. And if Sophie could identify the Witch, Howl might be able to finish her off once and for all before the Witch could cast her curse on him.

Sophie was staring out the window when he returned. "Howl," she said, without turning around. "What's that big bird thing?"

Howl froze, then rushed to the window. _It must be the Witch! _he thought, his breath caught in his chest. However, when he followed Sophie's line of vision, he cracked up. "It's called a plane, my dear Sophie!" he cried once he could breathe.

"A plane? What on earth is that?"

Howl explained, and Sophie listened with utmost attentiveness, her eyes wide with amazement as they followed the airplane until it was out of sight.

Howl watched her as she stared earnestly at the sky to see if any other airplanes would appear. The pleasantly surprised smile on her face seemed to make her light up. For once, his attention wasn't drawn just to a woman's lips; he was being drawn to Sophie's _everything_: her heart, her soul...

And it wasn't because he was hungry, no matter what the rumors Michael had spread told.

What the heck was going on? Howell mentally kicked himself for getting too attached to the redhead beside him. It was one thing to be attracted by a woman's looks, but being attracted to Sophie in other ways? Something was wrong with this picture. Never had Howl felt like this with a woman, even before he lost his heart!

"Howl?"

The curious voice shook Howl from his thoughts, and he turned his attention back to the real world. Sophie was looking at him, her head cutely tilted a bit to the side. "What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing, Sophie. Let's go," he said, managing to keep his voice even. He took her hand.

Then dropped it as if his hand had caught on fire.

_It can't be_, Howl thought numbly, his face growing paler by the second as he stared at his own hand, then stared at Sophie's. A terrible jolt far stronger than what could be blamed on as static electricity had flowed from Sophie's hand to his own, and he knew it had nothing to do with Sophie's own powers. Oh, no, he knew far too well who was responsible for the shock, and what the true identity of the shock was.

Sophie had felt the jolt too. "I felt something like that the other day!" she cried. Her own face began to pale, knowing something was terribly wrong.

"It's the Witch's curse. It's caught up to me," Howl stated, although his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"The Witch? Do you mean the Witch of the Waste?"

Snapping out of his stupor, Howl glared with his marble eyes at Sophie. "Of course I mean the Witch of the Waste! Who else would I mean?"

Ignoring his attitude, Sophie asked, "But how did she--?"

And suddenly she recalled the handkerchief she had seen vanish. And the two women who were searching for Howl. And how they knew of Ingary.

"Those women from yesterday!" Sophie gasped in a hushed tone, as though she expected the Witch to hear. Then again, she probably could cast a spell so she could hear them.

Howl looked at her, then whispered, "We can't talk freely here. Let's go back home."

Sophie nodded. She followed the pale man out of the hospital and into what she assumed was his car. She was so terrified at the thought of being in contact with the famed Witch of the Waste and so worried about Howl that she didn't hardly notice the car ride back to Megan's home. She noticed enough to make a little squeak now and then when they would go up and down the rolling hills.

But the Witch of the Waste! She had heard rumors that the Witch was on the prowl again, even though she had been banished to the Waste about fifty years ago. Sophie had even read in the paper that the Witch had threatened the king's sweet little daughter's life!

Sophie stole a glance at Howl, seeing how deathly pale he was and wondering if it was merely from the shock or if it was the curse itself, draining the life out of him. She noticed his hands, however, and decided that if he was able to grip the wheel so hard, he was still alive.

He drove into Megan's yard, and soon they were in the moving castle.

Sophie thought she should have felt very relieved to be in her own world again, but under the circumstances, she was only slightly glad to see Michael and Calcifer. The fire was lying low in the hearth, looking quite distraught. Michael greeted Sophie and Howl. "I'm so glad you're alright, Sophie! Howl told us what happened when he came home last night. Oh, and Howl, something's wrong with Calcifer. A while ago, he was his old energetic self, but now he seems really down about something."

Howl, seemingly unconcerned for Calcifer, walked over to his friend. "She caught up, old blueface."

Calcifer flickered on the logs. "I know," he replied, looking at Howl with saddened eyes. "I felt it take."

Howl flopped into a chair and Sophie fidgeted by the door, unsure as to what to do in situations like this. "Um, those two women yesterday. They knew about Ingary. I tried to tell you about that, but you kept cutting me off."

Howl let out a humorless chuckle. "Of course. The Witch would never let you off with telling me about her. If she had, I would have known how to avoid the curse. She touched you, didn't she?"

"She handed me a handkerchief. I had felt a shock and dropped it. She and the other woman walked off, as did I. But I turned around, and the handkerchief had disappeared." Sophie gasped, finally realizing what had happened. "She used me to give the curse to you!"

Again, a humorless laugh came from Howl. "It figures. They said curiosity kills the cat, but your nosiness might just kill me instead."

Sophie frowned. She knew that Howl probably didn't mean to say it to be cruel, but she really did feel awful enough without him reminding her it was her fault. It was all thanks to her that the curse was set in motion. And if she hadn't gotten so scared and angry, she wouldn't have ranted about returning to Ingary and mentioning Howl. It was all her fault. "Well," she said, trying to keep her voice from revealing the hurt she felt, "you know how I'm the eldest. I warned you before that I'm destined to fail first and worst, and it seems my misfortune is affecting you."

"Sophie," Howl groaned from near the hearth.

"In fact," she continued, ignoring him completely as she swept past him to retrieve her things from the space beneath the stairs. "I'll just take my leave of you right now. I hope you find out how to break the Witch's curse."

"Wait a second, Sophie! You're not going to leave, are you?" Calcifer asked, poking his head out from under the logs.

Sophie paused at the door. She noticed how Howl did not say a word. _He's probably glad I'm leaving. After all, I basically delivered his curse right to him. This is exactly why the eldest should never attempt to seek her fortune. I only make mistake after mistake after mistake._

"Yes, I am," she replied quietly to Calcifer. She did not dare to look over her shoulder. It was silly how attached she had become to the castle and the inhabitants of it.

"But what about our deal?" he cried.

She sighed. "You should find someone else to help you. Not a girl like me. But...if I do find out how to help you somehow, I might come back to help you. It would just be a visit though. Good-bye, Michael, Calcifer." She paused. "Good-bye, Howl. I'm sorry," Sophie added quietly, but loud enough to be heard by Howl.

She shut the door to the castle behind her, walking down the street in Market Chipping.

**Prettyinpinkgal: I was going to add a bit more to the ending, but I think I'll save it for the next chapter, which I expect will consist of green slime. XP Well, I hope you enjoyed it so far! Please review! Thank you very much!**


	11. In Which there are More Strange Things

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello everyone! Here's the long awaited ninth chapter! ...Oh my gosh, it feels like I only started this story a little bit ago, but it's already been, what, a year? O.O Thank you so much for the reviews, I can't believe there's 76! Thank you all so much!**

**In the novel, the scene in Wales takes place in the 80s. For this fanfiction, however, I just decided to move the time period to around the early 2000s. I thought it would be easier, and it would be fun having Sophie experiment with more modern inventions. :) Also, as a warning, there may be spoilers for those who have yet to see some of the films mentioned (although who hasn't _Titanic_?).  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HMC, nor any film mentioned.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER NINE: IN WHICH SOPHIE DISCOVERS (AND WATCHES) MORE STRANGE THINGS  
**

Sophie walked down the street, in almost a daze. She felt awful. Maybe she could figure out how to help Calcifer even away from the castle. Then again, it didn't seem like many answers had been in the castle, either.

"Sophie! Sophie Hatter!" a voice cried out, making Sophie snap out of her thoughts.

She glanced around, and saw an old classmate of hers come rushing over. "Bridget? What are you doing here?" she asked.

Bridget stared at her. "Why wouldn't I be here? I live here! The question is, where have you been!"

Sophie looked around, realizing with a start that she was in Market Chipping. "Oh my..." she started.

Bridget praddled on, saying, "Everyone's been so worried! Is it true that you ran away to escape your engagement to What's-His-Face? Some people were saying Wizard Howl stole your soul or heart too! Your family's been searching like mad trying to find you! Well, where have you been?"

Having only been half-listening, Sophie paused before answering, trying to recall what Bridget had been talking about. "Oh," she began. "I did run away. No, I did not meet Howl, and I was taking a little tour of Porthaven.. I've never been outside of Market Chipping, you know." Goodness, she had become a smooth liar. It must have come from living with a slither-outer like Howl.

"But why didn't you write?" Bridget demanded.

"I left a note," Sophie pointed out. "Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm leaving again. Would you please let my family know I'm alright and I'm searching for my fortune?" Although searching for her fortune was turning into a great misfortune indeed.

Bridget looked at Sophie, pity in her eyes. "Sophie, you know you're the eldest. It's not good for the eldest of three to search for their fortune."

Sophie bit back her tongue before she could snap at Bridget. Breathing in deeply, she replied in a restrained manner, "I know. But I'm not about to stay in that dratted hat shop any longer. Or marry Mr. Collins or anyone else, for that matter. Good day." With that, she set off again in a huff, ignoring Bridget's protests.

But really, it wasn't Bridget's fault. It was just this stupid--

Sophie came to a halt. Her breath caught in her chest, and she felt glued to the cobble street.

A very beautiful woman was approaching. Sophie knew instinctively who it was.

The Witch of the Waste.

It is impossible to say how exactly Sophie recognized the Witch. She looked completely different than when she called herself "Miss Williams". Yet Sophie knew it was the fiendish witch who had used her to deliver Howl's curse right to him. Anger bubbled up inside of her, yet she could not dare open her mouth. The Witch probably wouldn't recognize her anyway.

"Miss Hatter, how do you do?" the Witch said with a bright smile.

Several words came to mind at this moment which proper ladies were not supposed to know.

"I beg your pardon? Have we met?" Sophie asked in an innocent voice.

The Witch laughed. Unlike the stereotypical description of a witch's laugh, the Witch of the Waste's laugh was rather musical and not cackling in the slightest. "There is no need to be coy. You know precisely where we have met. I see you have delivered my present to Howl; I thank you for that."

"Howl? You mean Heartless Howl?" Sophie gasped, unwilling to give up her act. She'd rather be safe than sorry.

The Witch's eyes flashed, amusement turning into annoyance. "Miss Hatter, you may perhaps be many things, but a liar you are not."

Sophie sighed, starting to get rather annoyed by the Witch. But she knew it was over; the Witch obviously knew. "And what are you doing here?"

"This is my world just as much as it is yours--"

"I mean what are you doing in this town? What business do you have? Your curse has been safely delivered; you have no further reason to be here," Sophie spat out.

"I'm simply here to get some shopping done."

"You shop?"

"Do excuse me," the Witch told Sophie, beginning to walk away. Apparently, she was bored of Sophie.

"You--" Sophie began, but she was rudely interrupted.

Just then, a boy cried, "SOPHIE!", causing the said girl to turn around. When she turned to face the Witch again, "Miss Williams" had vanished.

"Drat it all," groaned Sophie. She turned again to the boy, who had just stopped behind her, panting. "Oh, hello, Michael," she greeted, feeling a bit awkward.

"Sophie, you have to come back to the castle!" Michael demanded once he caught his breath.

She frowned and shook her head. "I think it would be better if I didn't go back."

"No, that's not true! And besides, Howl's very upset that you're gone! He's al--" He cut himself off, listening.

Sophie stayed silent and listened too. A faint wailing sound was starting, and it seemed to be increasing in sound. "What is that?"

"Howl," Michael replied miserably. "This is precisely why you have to get back. He'll burst everyone's eardrums soon if you don't go back there! And then there's the matter of green slime..." he trailed off, partly talking to himself now.

"I beg your pardon?" But Sophie's words were left unheard, as the sound of Howl's misery increased steadily. "Oh, fine!" she shouted as she covered her ears. "I'll go, but I have no idea why he should be so upset that I'm gone!"

Michael smiled with relief, took her hand, and the two rushed off in the direction of the disguised castle. As they approached, the wailing was almost too much to bear. "Shut up already," Sophie muttered quietly, hoping that her powers would make the terrible noise stop. Of course, it didn't work. Nothing ever seemed to go Sophie's way.

Sophie flung open the door, quite fed up with Howl already. The wailing was starting to die down, as if he somehow knew Sophie was back. But in a disturbing turn of events, she found green slime dripping from him. The man himself seemed in a dazed state in the exact place where Sophie had left him. Grimacing, she ushered Michael inside and slammed the door closed.

"WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY? FOR GOODNESS SAKE, STOP BEING SUCH A BABY!" she screamed, hoping to get through to Howl. He just continued to drip slime.

"Sophie, Michael, get him away from me!" Calcifer whimpered as only a fire could whimper, inching as far away from the goop as possible.

Sophie rolled up her sleeves. "This is awful," she mumbled, sliding Howl's chair away from Calcifer. Some of the goop got on her hands, and she shivered in disgust.

"Michael, clean him up. I'll clean the floors. Again."

Michael rushed to do as he was told, trying to get the slippery Howl up the steps. Sophie sighed and got to work.

* * *

Howl sat gloomily in his chair near the hearth, not responding to anything. Michael, Sophie, and Calcifer eyed him, making sure he wouldn't slime again. "What made him do this?" Sophie whispered, as if anything louder would set the wizard off again.

"He seemed really depressed that you were leaving," Michael replied thoughtfully. "He slimes when he's really upset."

Sophie scoffed at the suggestion. "I'm sure he was just upset about the curse." Despite her uncaring exterior, she felt another pang of guilt.

"Soooophieee..."

Sophie and Michael jumped, almost thinking it was a ghost. They calmed down when they realized it was just Howl. "What?"

"Are you going to stay?" he moaned.

"Why should I?"

"Sophie..."

"Would you stop whining already? Honestly!"

"You can't leave, Sophie..."

"Yes I can."

Howl seemed to be recovering a bit. "It's dangerous with the Witch knowing your association with me."

"I saw her again in Market Chipping and I was fine."

Howl jumped up, then slumped back into the chair with an exhausted moan, having overexherted himself. "What do you mean, you saw her in Market Chipping?" he demanded as fiercely as he could at the moment.

"I saw her. In Market Chipping. Is it that difficult to understand?" Sophei snapped.

"She could have killed you! Did she hurt you?" Howl asked anxiously.

"Like I said, I'm fine."

Having recovered enough of his strength, most likely through some sort of spell, he was able to slowly stand again, grabbing her slight shoulders. "You don't know how powerful she is. If I can't break this curse, even _I _will be completely at her mercy. You have powers, yes, but you can scarcely use them. If the Witch is in the mood, she'll kill you in a heartbeat!"

Sophie considered this. Howl added hopefully, "Besides, where else can you go? Stay here, and you'll have protection."

Sophie glared at him, hating to admit he was right. "Fine," she snapped. "But only because I'm not in the mood to face my stepmother."

A grin appeared on Howl's face. Sophie looked away, embarrassed. "Why do you care so much about what happens to me, anyway?"

His grin widened. "Like I said before, I think I might make you my next target."

Sophie decided not to dignify this with an answer.

"Ahem. Anyway, Howl, you really should get ready to head to Kingsbury. You have another appointment with the king, remember?" Michael pointed out.

Howl groaned. "I can skip a meeting."

"He's the _king_. Who knows what he may do if you don't show up!"

"He's not a dictator, Michael. Fine, fine. Just give me a few minutes."

Sophie, feeling very uncomfortable from Howl's comment earlier, tried to think about other things. "I'm surprised you don't have anything from your world here, Howl. You used to live there, after all."

"Oh, I have some things. A television set, a DVD player, DVDs for said player, etc." He began groaning as he walked up the stairs, although he received no pity from the party. "If you finally decide you've cleaned enough, I'll set it up for you so you don't get bored." He vanished from sight.

* * *

Having been absent for several hours, Howl returned home, setting up some spells to confuse the Witch to be on the safe side. How he detested those meetings with the king! Constantly trying to pin him down to do this and that....

_Well_, he thought, _I would be decidedly more upset if Sophie hadn't decided to stay. _Howl felt his depression lift as he pictured his ginger-haired beauty, who was either still cleaning like her life depended on it or enraptured by the technology from his world.

As he reached for the doorknob, he was startled to sense subtle magic at work inside. If Michael had been working on something, his powers would be much more noticeable.

Quickly walking in and slamming the door behind him, his alarm faded as he saw the source of the power.

Apparently, his second prediction had been correct. There Sophie sat, using a chair from the table, staring at the television Howl had earlier brought downstairs. He had configured all electrically-run items from his world to run instead on magic, therefore a small injection of magic would leave it working for days.

Sophie was taking full advantage of this feature, as it appeared that she had not moved since Howl had left hours ago. He had conjured some chick-flick movies for her to watch, and he now saw two piles on the floor: One, he decided, was the DVDS she had watched (which he found rather high) and the other (much lower) pile was presumably those she had yet to view. He glanced at the screen, which portrayed Rose holding onto a dead Jack's hand, whispering, "I won't let go."

At this, Sophie, whose shoulders were shaking, whispered, "Tissue, come here", and so it did. Wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, she deposited it on the floor in a very un-Sophielike manner. Judging by the floor, she had been conjuring tissues ever since he left.

He heard a sniffle in the corner of the room and saw Michael, papers spread out before him with only a hint of any writing, eyes red from trying unsuccessfully not to cry as well. Calcifer, meanwhile, struggled to watch the telly by leaning out. His eyes held little, but still some, compassion for the characters. "Be a man, Michael," he said, his voice cracking a bit more than usual. Apparently, he was more affected by the movie than his expression suggested.

"I'm not crying," Michael replied unconvincingly.

"I'm certainly glad I'm not a man; I can cry freely," Sophie whimpered.

Howl gazed at this scene for a few more moments, finding the three comical and pitiful and Sophie adorable. After some time, he then grew considerably bored, able to remain ignored for only a small amount of time. "Well, what a happy homecoming this is," Howl said loudly.

All three started, turned to face Howl slowly, and the two which were able to shed tears quickly did away with them, certain they would be mocked by Howl.

"No, no," said he, "don't bother trying to put on a brave face for me."

"Shut up," Sophie hissed, although it was still more of a whimper.

He smiled, and felt all his troubles with the king fade away. "_Titanic_, huh? I hadn't realized I picked such dramatic chick-flicks."

"What are chick-flicks?" she asked.

"Never mind. Anyway," he began as he strode over to the stack of DVDs. "_A Walk to Remember_, _P.S. I Love You_, _The Notebook_... Could I have picked any more girly movies?"

"They're not girly! Anyone can enjoy them. They have beautiful storylines!" Sophie protested adamantly, much to the silent agreement of Michael and Calcifer.

Howl chuckled at her response. "Whatever you say, my dear Sophie." He pulled up a chair and sat beside her. At this, Sophie moved to put a little more distance between them.

They watched the ending of the film, Sophie and Michael occasionally sniffing but not daring to cry again in front of Howl, who momentarily wondered if he would have cried a bit if he had a heart. Reflecting on how he was prior to his meeting Calcifer, he remembered he had only laughed when Megan watched one of her sappy films before she married.

As soon as _Titanic _ended, Sophie said, "I must say, this magic box is rather incredible, Howl."

"You mean a television."

"Right."

Michael cleared his throat. "So, um, are we going to watch another play?"

"You mean a movie."

"Sure."

Howl sighed dramaticaly. "If you want more drama, just listen to how my meeting with the king went!" he cried with a wave of his arms, feeling neglected again.

Calcifer piped up, saying, "Let's just listen to him whine. We won't have any peace until he does."

Howl shot a look towards the hearth. "_Anyway_, the king has decided to make me a Royal Wizard."

His apprentice, momentarily forgetting who he was speaking to, said, "This is great!" After Howl gaped at him, Michael came to his senses and meekly added, "Or not."

Howl nodded and resumed pathetically exclaiming, "He respects me so much that he can't help promoting me! Why can't he see what a vile person I am?"

Sophie watched his dramatics in amazement. "Why is this so bad? One would think you'd _like _to be promoted."

He groaned. "Sophie, my good woman, do you not understand _anything _after living here for...how long has it been? Anyway, you should know me better by now!"

She thought. "Is it because he's pinning you down to more responsibility, and you can't just respectfully decline a job?"

"Exactly! What I need is for someone to explain to the king just how terrible I am..." Howl trailed off. He didn't bother looking at Calcifer, but turned immediately toward Michael. He then waved his hand and muttered something along the lines of, "As if _he _could be spiteful." His gaze focused in on Sophie, who was becoming decidedly suspicious. "Sophie it is! You can go to the palace tomorrow and blacken my name!"

"Oh, no. I don't see why I should do anything for you!"

He smiled charmingly. "But you will do this one, small thing for me, won't you?"

Sophie knew she had no romantic interest in Howl whatsoever, yet she _was _female, and seeing a handsome man smiling in such a way--and specifically at _her_--had mullified her. "Oh, fine," she huffed.

Howl only grinned at her triumphantly.


	12. Which Contains the First of Two Visits

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello! Here's Chapter Ten! Thanks for the reviews and support, everyone! I hope this chapter is satisfactory as well. I threw in a visit with Howl's frightening tutor because I thought that it was a brilliant part of the original novel, and it would be fun to see Mrs. Penstemmon (that's going to be a pain to spell) interacting with a young Sophie. I don't recall if I have included Howl calling Sophie "Mrs. Nose" yet, but I'm changing it to "Miss Nose" since, to me, it feels like it fits better, considering her age.**

**By the way, I've finally read "House of Many Ways". I was surprised by how much I liked it, considering my slight disappointment with "Castle in the Air". I felt like Howl and Sophie (and Calcifer, but the aforementioned took priority for me) were more like main characters in "Many Ways", while in "CitA" no one even realizes they were in the story until the end. So that's my opinion on it. And Charmain and Peter has become a new favorite couple of mine~  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HMC, nor any film mentioned. Any quotes used are the sole property of DWJ. The visit with Mrs. Penstemmon was also slightly influenced by The S's "A Woman True and Fair". I'm sorry for that. I normally avoid borrowing ideas from other fanfictions like the plague, but it happened. Still, to make up for it, I shall endeavor to encourage anyone who has yet to do so to read The S's story. It is amazing, far better than anything I have read. I strongly, highly, fervently recommend it.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER TEN: WHICH CONTAINS THE FIRST OF TWO FRIGHTENING VISITS  
**

Howl proceeded to give Sophie a thorough, meticulously detailed description on who she was supposed to be (saying she was merely a cleaning lady for Howl just wouldn't do) and what she was supposed to say. After a while, however, Sophie's head began to whirl and she found it extremely difficult to listen to a single word he was saying. Overloaded with details, she became alarmed when Howl dismissed himself to bed with a yawn and she found she could not remember a single thing.

_Ah, well, _she thought when she had bidden Calcifer a good night. _I'll just ask him in the morning._

Most unfortunately, Howl was not available in the morning. Calcifer told her that he had gone to see an old tutor of his. Sophie sighed and shrugged and proceeded cleaning, because, as much as she wanted to watch more of those play-movie things, this was all she was here for, anyway.

Or so she told herself. She refused to think that it was because she was growing increasingly fond of the inhabitants of the moving castle.

Howl was not seen for the rest of the day, and it was not until everyone had given up expecting him that night and gone to bed when he returned.

Awakened by sound of a door shutting and the sound of shoes against the floor, Sophie yawned and turned over on her side, planning to go back to the land of dreams.

"Better late than never," Calcifer said in his crackly voice.

_Oh, so Howl's back_, the young lady thought sleepily, drifting off again.

Howl's voice replied back, in a more hushed tone, "Yes, well, I've been busy."

"Let me guess. You went to the palace to tell whoever it is that works for the king that Sophie was coming after you went to your old tutor, and then you went out and got drunk and didn't wake up sober until just minutes ago."

Howl laughed softly. "You know me well."

Calcifer snorted. "That makes sense. We share the same heart, after all."

The creaking of a chair could be heard. Sophie found herself following the conversation despite her wish to get back to sleep. There was something about the last comment which was intriguing, although her tired mind was much too exhausted to consider it very long.

"In any case, keep your voice down. You might wake up Sophie," Howl replied.

She considered letting him know he was already awake and it was all his fault, but she felt a bit sneaky by eavesdropping, and she was still not quite in her right mind, so she childishly smiled and continued listening intently despite her drooping eyelids.

"That's fine. I've been dropping hints like mad about the contract, but she never notices."

"You've been telling her about the contract?"

Calcifer's flames crackled, and Sophie could imagine that this was due to his wincing. "No, I have not," he replied.

"Yes, you have." Howl sighed. "I suppose that it's alright, though. I don't want to end up like the Witch."

"Neither do I."

There was a moment of silence. Sophie decided to stop listening and just go to sleep.

"Don't you feel a bit of guilt for bullying Sophie into going to the king?" Calcifer then asked.

Sophie's ears perked up again, naturally.

"No heart, remember?"

_Honestly, _Sophie thought, _how often are they going to use that joke? _She didn't even consider the possibility that they might not be joking.

Calcifer snorted. "It's a miracle enough that she came back. Don't you think she will definitely leave if you keep exploiting her?"

Howl muttered something which Sophie, despite all her straining to hear, could not decipher.

Calcifer spoke again, just barely raising his voice louder. "Oh, Sophiiiiiie. Howl won't answer my questioooon," he softly called.

"Shut it!" Howl then proceeded to say something which Sophie suspected was a curse in Welsh.

"Oh ho, touchy, aren't we?" Calcifer cackled, quieter this time. "You can be honest with me, you know."

"I know that," Howl snapped. "Forget it. I'm tired and I feel the beginning of a hangover coming on and I am not discussing this any further. Good night, Calcifer."

After Sophie heard his feet pound above her, evidently forgetting his warnings to Calcifer to be quiet, she decided that there was nothing of interest for her to listen to and fell asleep.

* * *

She was going to kill him, if the Witch's curse didn't get to him first.

Sophie stood the next morning trembling with anger, as Howl rudely insulted her clothing. "You can't possibly see Mrs. Penstemmon and the king in _that_." He pointed to her gray attire. "It would be embarrassing for you _and _me."

He was saying this after he had rejected the way she had her hair pinned up, her lack of makeup, and so on.

Sophie had initially obliged him, feeling that he knew more about how one should look on visits with stately people. But this was ridiculous!

"I don't see why we have to visit your tutor anyway," she said sourly.

"Because," he replied with constant glances at his watch (which was apparently another item from his world), "besides giving you practice for appearing in front of the king, I want to see if she can make out what the curse on me is supposed to _be_."

She snorted. "Some wizard you are," she sneered, "not even able to figure out what your own curse is."

Howl was starting to lose patience as well. "Well," he struggled to say in a calm voice. "It is difficult to look at yourself and analyze your own curse. Besides, this spell is very well constructed. Mrs. Penstemmon is my best bet for being able to examine the terms of the curse."

"Excuses, excuses," Sophie replied dismissively, waving her hand as if waving away his words.

Now he was _really _angry. "I'll have _you _know, Miss Nose, that I'm actually being honest right now!"

" 'Actually'? Why, this is a surprise!" Sophie was a bit surprised by how she was acting. She was actually having a bit of fun picking on him! She was infuriated, of course, and yet it was very fun to rile him up.

Michael decided to jump in. "Howl, I think Sophie looks fine," he said timidly.

"She does, but not in that."

Sophie flushed, both annoyed and embarrassed. Did he just compliment her and insult her at the same time?

"I'll be right back." With a huff, she decided that it was probably better if she just wore one of the expensive dresses Howl had purchased for her.

Minutes later, they headed out. Michael accompanied Howl and Sophie so they wouldn't murder each other, and Calcifer bid them farewell mournfully, wondering what it would be like at Mrs. Penstemmon's.

It was dreadfully hot. As the trio walked, they felt themselves become more and more uncomfortable. _And it's even worse for me! _Sophie thought. _Howl and Michael don't have to wear these dratted petticoats!_

The sour mood increased tenfold in the heat, at least on Sophie's side. Howl must have cast a spell on himself, the selfish ingrate, because instead of becoming ruder, he became more amiable. Soon, not a trickle of sweat could be found on him. This contrast was sharpened by sweet Michael's irritated retorts to every lighthearted comment Howl made.

They went past several gorgeous houses, remarkable in every way. Sophie thought she had never seen such luxurious homes in her life. She now understood why Howl had been so adamant she wear something better than her regular attire.

"We're almost there!" Howl told them cheerfully, pointing towards two houses ahead. He glanced at his companions and clicked his tongue. "I can't have you two appear in Mrs. Penstemmon's home in such shape," he informed them. With a few gestures, all sweat beads had vanished. Sophie's few strands of hair, which had been left out of the bun to frame her face, no longer stuck annoyingly to her cheeks. The day now felt no hotter than an early spring morning.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Sophie demanded, her temper still in the process of cooling.

"Yeah!" Michael jumped in, although pathetically.

Howl shrugged helplessly. "I didn't realize you both were so warm! Ah, look, we're just about there! Hurry up, you two." He quickly escaped any impending argument by walking faster.

It was at that moment Sophie realized she had no idea who she was supposed to be.

She had been so wrapped up in fending off Howl's orders to adjust herself in this way or that, and she had been too preoccupied with the awful heat to recall asking Howl.

"Howl!" she squealed anxiously, hastening her steps. "Who am I supposed to be?!"

He had not heard her, as he was talking to a butler at the house. The butler let him inside, and Howl quickly waved his hand behind his back to usher the two dawdlers in.

Sophie was much too apprehensive to attend to the incredible makeup of the interior of the home. She wanted to find a moment when she could whisper to Howl her question, but no such moment arrived as he kept speaking in a familiar way with the butler.

They were led up the a grand staircase and into a large room, in which Mrs. Penstemmon sat regally. She was very old, Sophie noted. She would not have been surprised if the tutor was nearing ninety years of age. She seemed terribly frightening, although not in a Witch-of-the-Waste way

"Ah, my dear Howell," the woman greeted, regally holding out her glove-covered hand. The wizard kissed it politely. Mrs. Penstemmon's sharp and frightening eyes turned to Sophie, however, as she stood near Michael. The latter quickly abandoned her, though, as he decided to stand near the page boy.

"Traitor," she mouthed at him when she watched him retreat apologetically.

"Mrs. Penstemmon," Howl was saying, "this is my--"

The old lady cut him off. "Do come here," she told Sophie. "Have a seat." She was not impolite, but had an air which refused to be argued with. "Pardon my not standing. I'm afraid my health is rather frail at the moment."

Sophie fairly shook as she took those few steps and sat down, uncomfortably close to the teacher. Howl went to have a seat as well, but Mrs. Penstemmon waved him away. "Go outside with your pageboy. I'd like to speak with the young lady alone."

Howl glanced at Sophie and took in her horrified expression. Her eyes pleaded with him to stay, and she looked near tears. _Of course_, he thought dryly, _Mrs. Penstemmon has that affect on people._ "Why?" he said instead to his old tutor. "Are you about to speak ill of me?"

"If I wanted to speak ill of you I'd keep you in the room so you'd know how you could improve," Mrs. Penstemmon retorted. "I'll send for you later."

"But what about my curse?"

"Later," Mrs. Penstemmon replied briskly, turning her attention once again to the terrified Sophie.

He glanced at the girl, who seemed as though she was turning back into the mouse he had once seen on May Day. Then, defeated, he left, disappointed that Mrs. Penstemmon was far too good at magic and would most certainly pick out any listening-in spells.

Once the door closed, Mrs. Penstemmon began the interrogation. "Who are you, child?"

"Sophie Hatter," she said, her voice wobbly.

"A friend of Howell's?"

"I...suppose?"

Mrs. Penstemmon stared unrelentingly at the poor girl. "How do you know him?"

"I..." Sophie racked her brain for some idea. _Any _idea. "I've been his neighbor for some time," Sophie suddenly said. _That'll do, I suppose._

"Oh really? Which do you prefer, his hair blond or black?"

Was this some type of test? Sophie had no idea. But she had always thought his blond hair looked funny, almost fake. "Black?"

"I agree," Mrs. Penstemmon concurred with a decisive nod. "He was foolish to dye his hair."

"Indeed," Sophie replied, hoping to sound more comfortable than she felt.

"Now then, Miss Hatter," Mrs. Penstemmon began, leaning slightly towards the redhead. "I think this was enough practice, don't you?"

She blinked. "Practice for what?"

"Why, for lying to the king, of course. You have your story, and this is as intimidating as it will be. I dare say, His Majesty is far less fearsome than I," the older woman said with a brief smile.

"How did you...?"

"I'm very good at magic, my dear, and I'm not saying this out of pride. I can figure out one's intentions and plans just by looking at them. You seemed deeply concerned about not recalling whatever Howl had told you."

Sophie tried to relax, telling herself it was a good thing she did not have to worry about lying anymore to such an intimidating woman. "I'm sorry. I don't really want to lie to the king. But Howl insisted..."

Mrs. Penstemmon waved her hand dismissively, although the action was stiff and slow. "Believe me, my dear, I understand. He used to attempt to slither out of assignments I gave him all the time. But try and be smoother at fibbing, if you must lie at all."

Sophie nodded, thanking her for her help. If the king truly was less intimidating, then she would be just fine. "Thank you for allowing me to practice, but why didn't you allow Howl to stay in the room?"

"I wanted to get to know you without his commentary."

Sophie, needless to say, was surprised by this. "Really?" Why on earth did Mrs. Penstemmon want to get to know _her _for?

"Indeed. You are his housekeeper, correct?"

She nodded.

"I cannot agree with this arrangement," Mrs. Penstemmon declared. "A lovely young lady such as yourself cannot stay with a young man. Now, I know Howl is not the type of person to really take advantage of a situation like that. But my concern is that feelings may arise between the two of you and it would make your living situation awkward. Not to mention, the situation itself, no matter the feelings which may appear, is highly improper. You should take my advice, Miss Hatter, and leave immediately."

Sophie started. Mrs. Penstemmon had shut her eyes, and she felt able to speak a bit more freely at the moment. "Believe me, Mrs. Penstemmon," Sophie began, "I wouldn't be living in the moving castle if I could help it. I have nowhere else to go, and it's free board at the castle, save for my cleaning. Besides, I know Howl's character enough to not fall in love with him. I'd _never _do such a thing. And I highly doubt Howl would fall for me, despite all his talk."

Mrs. Penstemmon raised a brow without opening her eyes, but made no other move to reply on that particular subject. "Where did you live before moving into his castle? Why did you agree to live there in the first place?"

Sophie proceeded to briefly explain her situation.

"I see," replied the elderly woman when the younger ended her explanation. "I wish you luck. Make sure to avoid that Mr. Collins. I believe he could be dangerous."

Sophie stared. Had she been speaking to anyone else, she surely would have laughed. "Dangerous? Mr. Collins..." Her protests died on her lips, however, when Mrs. Penstemmon opened her eyes again, their piercing stare not merely interrupting Sophie, but severing the sentence altogether.

"I should also mention that, besides being able to decipher people's intentions, I am also prone to having suspicions which often come true."

Sophie nodded, believing Mrs. Penstemmon to be a reliable source, but still completely inept at imagining Mr. Collins as dangerous, unless one counts being out to squash any personality in his future wife as 'dangerous'.

Mrs. Penstemmon continued to stare at Sophie, which caused the latter to barely refrain from squirming in discomfort. After a few moments, the tutor nodded and leaned back, closing her eyes once again. "You may send Howl in now, Miss Hatter. It has been a pleasure conversing with you. Remember--avoid Mr. Collins. By the by, your magical ability is stupendous. Work on controlling it; you may need to easily conjure it someday. Good day, Miss Hatter."

"G-Good day." With that, Sophie shot up and stiffly walked to the door, which seemed very far away. When she was safely out of the room, she closed the door and slumped against it. _I feel exhausted, mentally and physically. _

A pageboy rushed to her side, asking if she needed assistance.

"I'm fine," Sophie replied wearily. She followed the boy slowly down the steps. When they arrived at the ground floor, Howl, who had been deep in conversation with the butler still, whipped his head round to face Sophie. His expression briefly seemed to hint at a feeling of guilt.

"Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow to see the king," he said, struggling to hide any appearance of feeling sorry for putting Sophie through such a hair-raising experience as meeting with his tutor...for the first time..._alone_. The full impact of what he had done, albeit unintentionally (how was _he _to know Mrs. Penstemmon would ask to speak to Sophie in private?), sunk in. He could recall how intimidated he, the cocky college student, had been upon their first meeting. He could scarcely imagine how mousy Sophie could have felt in such a scenario.

By any judge of her face, it was enough to drain her of all energy. The normally red tint (due to mad cleaning sprees or embarrassment or, more often, irritation at him) of her cheeks was gone. The pallor alarmed Howl, and he found himself wishing he had warned her ahead of time just what his old teacher was like.

Sophie sighed heavily. "No, no. My nerves are completely destroyed at this point. We may as well go today before I can get properly nervous again. Besides, if Mrs. Penstemmon is right, the king is much less stately, so I should be fine. Just hurry up and talk to her." This said, she sat down heavily in a chair next to Michael, her joints still tense.

Howl hesitated for just a moment, then quickly walked up the stairs without waiting for the butler or the pageboy.

Ducking into the room he had become so accustomed to over the years, Howl greeted Mrs. Penstemmon with his usual amiable grin. "So what did you discuss with Sophie?"

She opened her eyes and turned her piercing stare on him. "What are your intentions?" she asked immediately.

Howl's eyes widened. "Why, Mrs. Penstemmon, my intention is only to have a clean home," he informed her falsely.

He lied to her more for the sport of it than actual belief she would be fooled. His ex-tutor was most perceptive, and she now demonstrated that perceptiveness by stating, "You are lying and I don't appreciate that. Do you fancy her?"

Howl opened his mouth, ready to lie smoothly. However, a sudden memory of Sophie's fascinated face while looking at the airplanes in Wales stopped him in his tracks. He hated to think of how close he had come to losing her so shortly after that. He swallowed and finally spoke. "Not at all. Although she is quite lovely," he conceded.

"I quite like her," Mrs. Penstemmon declared. This was a shock, for she very rarely was satisfied with anything, let alone any_one_. "I think she'll do you good. Make sure you steer her clear of that Mr. Collins person, though. Miss Hatter seems to be the sort of person to easily get into trouble, and may need assistance to avoid it."

Knowing how correct her judgment was, Howl did not argue. However, he did say, "Why Collins? Will he be out to propose to her again?" The very thought made him suddenly feel very possessive.

"I'm not certain, but I think it's much more serious than an unwanted marriage proposal." The ends of her mouth seemed to twitch up slightly at this. "To keep her safe from that, you have my permission to marry her."

Howl dodged this suggestion successfully. "I'll consider that. Now, about more pressing matters..."

"Yes, your curse." Mrs. Penstemmon eyed him thoughtfully. "The Witch did a very excellent job creating this. It's quite elaborate." She peered at the curse some more. "I'd say you have until Midsummer's Day. Then, it will almost certainly ensnare you."

"And then?"

"You will be brought back to the Witch, it seems."

The thought chilled him to the bone. Howl cleared his throat several times before being able to speak. "What are the terms?"

"That I cannot say. The Witch evidently wanted to guarantee that you would be caught by her curse, because it is so clouded it's scarcely decipherable. I'm afraid that's all I can say for now. Be extremely careful. Do not go gallivanting around with girls. The Witch's magic has improved since the last time I came into contact with it, so it may be very difficult to tell who she might be."

Howl sighed. "Right." He glanced at Mrs. Penstemmon's expression and became greatly alarmed. "Are you alright?" He jumped up and took several steps towards her.

She waved him off. "I'm just tired. I'll be dying soon, so I've been working to preserve as many magical objects in my house as I can. It can be rather exhausting, especially on my old, withered body."

Howl's heart, back at the castle, sank, causing Calcifer to shift uncomfortably. "How?" Too many bad things were coming too quickly, and it was aggravating that he and the people he cared about could not merely slither out of them.

Still, he did not receive a reply, for Mrs. Penstemmon had sunk into an uncomfortable sleep.

**Prettyinpinkgal: I figured Mrs. Penstemmon would be a fairly easy character to throw into the story, but I feel like I haven't grasped her character enough, or I've ended up following "A Woman True and Fair" all too closely, or something. I'm sorry it was a pathetic attempt. Well, please hit the review button, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I did my best, and I hope it was good enough, but if not, please let me know so I know where to improve.**


	13. A King, a Witch, and a Horrified Sophie

**Prettyinpinkgal: I can't believe the amount of reviews--and such nice reviews at that!--for this story! It makes me so happy; thank you everybody!! Please enjoy this chapter, although it will be much more serious and gruesome than the others.  
**

**Also: Does anyone want to be my beta reader for this story? Sometimes I worry about the quality and the in-character-ness of a chapter, and it would be a relief if I had someone else's opinion before I posted it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HMC. Sorry to disappoint.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: WHICH CONTAINS A KING, A WITCH, AND A HORRIFIED SOPHIE  
**

Minutes later, the threesome left the stately mansion. Sophie wearily informed the other two of what she had talked about with the old woman. "I'm not sure who I'm more frightened of: Mrs. Penstemmon or the Witch of the Waste. But she is very considerate, helping me practice before visiting the king."

Howl was quiet, which was unusual. Michael and Sophie looked at each other with concern and then back at Howl.

Michael spoke up first. "What's wrong, Howl?"

"Apparently, Mrs. Penstemmon believes she is going to die." This was spoken without any emotion.

Sophie and Michael were too stunned to say a word and struggled to keep up with Howl's quick pace. Sophie cleared her throat as her surprise faded and asked, "Does she know how?"

"Probably by old age." However, the lack of any dramatics and his serious expression made Sophie wonder if he believed Mrs. Penstemmon would die by other means than her age.

The palace could now be seen, and Sophie inhaled sharply. The sight was grand, so grand it made Mrs. Penstemmon's home look like a quaint cottage in comparison. Apprehension now swept through her as she stared in awe and terror at the palace, and she tried to believe Mrs. Penstemmon's words that the king was not nearly as regal as the tutor.

"Come on, Miss Nose," Howl said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. Leaning in, he whispered, "You'll be fine. Just keep with the story you came up with and make me out to be as horrible as possible."

"That won't be difficult," Sophie replied shortly, although it was far too strained to seem as rude as she had intended.

And then things became very worrisome indeed. Michael was stopped somewhere along the way, and then Howl too was halted while Sophie was ushered away and led to a smallish room. She was now very tired of constantly having to face horrifying situations on her own, and she was becoming very cross because of it. Why couldn't she have moral support when she needed it?

The king greeted her kindly enough, at least. "Hello, Miss Hatter. How do you do?"

The whirlwind of being led through the palace this way and that had slightly dizzied her, and she found it presently difficult to believe she was right in front of His Majesty. Sophie had pictured him in the throne room, not sitting in a normal (albeit expensive) chair at a desk. She managed a curtsy, and a rather graceful one at that, and murmured, "Your Highness," because it seemed to be the sort of thing you did for royalty, or so all the books from her childhood had led her to believe.

"Do have a seat. I believe you came to discuss Wizard Howl?"

"Y-yes."

The king was very much like an ordinary person, perhaps resembling a mere businessman. He had smiling eyes, and seemed very friendly. Sophie was very much at ease now, save for the occasional reminder that she was, in fact, speaking to the king of all Ingary.

Sophie now began her speech. "Your Majesty, I believe it would be a mistake to hire him as a Royal Wizard."

"Oh? Go on."

"Well, sire, I've known Howl for...quite a while. We lived within a short distance of each other for a good deal of time. He was always dreadful, putting off his responsibilities onto someone else, and he would slither out of everything he was supposed to do--"

The king stopped her. "If I may. You say you were a neighbor of Wizard Howl's?"

"Er, yes. And his cousin." She didn't want to just seem a random acquaintance, lest her claims of his wickedness seem strange.

"I see. And you were saying he's far from responsible?"

"Yes, sire. He's a terrible coward, also. If it means even a verbal confrontation, he tries to avoid such a thing. He'd be horrible as a Royal Wizard. Not to mention, he is a terrible baby about everything. Howl is awfully vain." Sophie tried thinking of any other faults. "He does things without thinking to satisfy his own selfishness, and he's just a vile person in general. He never does anything without thinking of himself first and foremost and takes great pleasure in concocting the most innocent expressions and acting as though he's thinking of the good of others. It's positively ridiculous. And besides, the Witch of the Waste's curse just caught up with him, so he must spend more time canceling that than spending time at the palace, I'm afraid."

The king shivered. "I can understand _that. _My own daughter was threatened by the Witch. As the wizard is not of high social standing, he must be very powerful to even receive the Witch's curse, let alone have hope of breaking the curse."

After a few more minutes ranting about Howl's flawed character, Sophie finally gave up. Seeing she was through, the king thanked her for her input. But he was being so calm about her speech that Sophie was thrown off. And he was _smiling_. Who would smile after such a rant?

"Your speech, Miss Hatter," the king began, "has helped me decide, and I am grateful to you. I will promote Howl to Royal Wizard."

Sophie could do nothing but stare.

"You see," he continued, "the fact that he had sent his cousin to complain about his character in order to get out of being in such a high position shows he cannot be too terribly proud, and his turning down the money I offered him shows he's not altogether greedy. There is also the fact that he believes he can break the Witch's curse, which proves he is able to conduct very high-level magic, which I had already suspected from magic he has already done for us. Of course, until he breaks the curse he needs not visit the palace; he must focus on his own troubles before he can assist with the country's."

"Oh, drat it all!" Sophie cried, finally able to find her voice. "He told me to blacken his name!"

"And so you did," the king replied, smiling. "Unfortunately, I'm quite stubborn when I make my mind up to be, and I've decided I'd like him to be one of our Royal Wizards."

Sophie saw any further conversation would be fruitless; in fact, the king very well might promote Howl even more, if that was possible. _How could I have messed up something so easy as numbering Howl's faults?! _she thought as she followed the pageboy dejectedly. Actually, she was so dejected that she found she was not following the pageboy at all; he must have made a turn, and she had continued straight.

"Oh, confound it!" she cried. "This is too much!"

Sophie wandered around for several minutes, feeling relieved now that she was dressed up fashionably and did not stick out like a sore thumb amongst the high-society persons chattering throughout the halls. She turned this way and that, completely lost. Her magic was being extremely stubborn and would not work, to Sophie's great annoyance. "This is horrible," she moaned. "I'm getting quite tired of continually getting lost!"

She stumbled upon one hallway which was surprisingly empty, save for one other besides herself. It was a hallway full of windows, allowing one to overlook the city of Kingsbury. The other woman in the hall was gazing out at the city, smiling rather sinisterly, and Sophie somehow knew that the woman was seeing farther than the average person could.

She also inexplicably knew that this woman was the Witch of the Waste in yet another disguise.

The Witch turned towards her, greeting her with a, "Hello, Miss Hatter."

"Hello," was all Sophie, exhausted with walking in such irritating shoes and anxiety, could muster.

"I see you paid a visit to the king."

"Yes."

"May I ask what for?" the Witch asked, her smile growing at the poor girl's shock.

"Might I ask why _you _are here?"

"None of your business." However, the Witch could not help but scare Sophie even more. "I'm going to see Howl's old tutor. Do you know her?"

_Mrs. Penstemmon? _"N-no, I have not had that pleasure."

"Pity. I'm afraid she may not be very good company soon." With this, the Witch laughed and walked away, her form disappearing.

Sophie stood shaking, the meaning of the Witch's words sinking in. "Oh my...I have to find Howl!" Picking up her skirts, she was about to start darting every which way again, but knew it would be pointless. Instead she grabbed a pageboy and described Howl. "Tell him Sophie has gone to Mrs. Penstemmon's and he must go there straightaway!"

The pageboy nodded, his own face pale upon seeing Sophie's obvious agitation, and darted off.

Now, she needed to find a way out of this dratted castle. Stopping a group of elegantly-dressed women, she asked them how to leave. They all bickered about where to turn, and finally Sophie just let them argue and found another servant and was led out of the magnificent estate.

Unfortunately, then the servant excused himself and reentered the palace. There was no one else around for Sophie ask for directions to Mrs. Penstemmon's house.

"Okay, Sophie," she muttered, squinting under the hot summer sun. "You can do this. Concentrate." She breathed in deeply. "Road, I demand you show me the way to Mrs. Penstemmon's home!" This was said with no little amount of impatience, apprehension, and irritation. _If my magic doesn't work again... _she thought irritatedly. _For pity's sake, Mrs. Penstemmon could be _dead _by now!_

Perhaps it was only the heat. Or perhaps it was Sophie's imagination. But she was certain that the bricks in the road had ever so slightly shifted in one direction rather than the other.

"Why not?" she asked herself, then took off running. Her high-heeled shoes broke, and she took them off hastily. Running with only a thin clothing to separate her feet from the scalding bricks, Sophie turned every which way, continually ordering the road to lead her in case the first time wasn't enough. Sweat dripped from her forehead, her skirts made it difficult to keep running, and she wondered just how far along the Witch was in her plans. _Howl will be so upset if anything happens to her! _Sophie cried in her mind, panting too heavily to voice the thought aloud. I'll _be upset if anything happens to her!_

After feeling as though she had been running for ages, she slowly recognized the stately neighborhood and realized, to her immense relief and joy, that there was just a bit more to go before she reached Mrs. Penstemmon's home. "Thank...goodness!" she panted, managing to run just a bit faster.

_Please don't let me be too late!

* * *

_"I wonder how she's doing," Howl muttered to himself, trying to find Michael, who was probably hopelessly lost and intimidated by being in such a fantastic building. The ladies he came across naturally flirted with them (who could possibly resist _him_?), but his thoughts continually wandered not even to Michael's location, but to the little mouse no doubt frightened, even while talking to very possibly the least-intimidating king ever to have ruled any country in any world.

Maybe this was a little unfair of him, shoving her into such a duty when he knew that he easily could have just said no to the king himself. But _nooo_, he just _had _to be dramatic in every way possible way.

And, drat it all, why was his conscience bothering him when he had thought he learned years ago how to shut it up?! Furthermore, it was very aggravating that it sounded like Calcifer!

He didn't care, he continually told himself, that Sophie might be a bit bothered. It was no concern of his. Not at all. Besides, he'd never cared this much about any other girl he had decided to pay attention to. _Perhaps_, he thought, _it would be better to stop trying to flirt with her and put an end to this._

A few minutes passed, and the image of Sophie came unbidden to his mind once more.

This was starting to frighten cowardly Howl. Never, _never_, had he ever encountered a girl who continued to possess his thoughts even after he decided to give her up! What was _wrong _with him?!

_It's just because I live with her, that's all. And she's the only girl who ever knew about my contract with Calcifer. So that explains it!_

He refused to believe that there was any other reason.

"Howl!"

He turned and saw Michael bounding towards him. "We have to go!"

Howl replied, "Has Sophie finished up already? I would have thought she would be in there much longer, numbering all of my many faults!"

"This isn't funny, Howl." It must not have been, for Michael's boyish face was serious. "I bumped into a pageboy when I was trying to find you. He was looking very worried. He said he was looking for you, because Sophie instructed him to tell you that she was on her way to your old tutor's house and we have to get there as soon as we can!"

Howl paled slightly, then nodded. Mrs. Penstemmon's prophecy of her death came back to him, and he pulled Michael along as they ran out of the palace.

* * *

Sophie pushed past the servant who had been familiar with Howl. "Don't let anyone else in here, unless it's Howl or Michael!" she shouted back at him.

She found Mrs. Penstemmon at the very place the trio had left her. She slept peacefully, and Sophie almost cried with joy to see her breathing. "Excuse me!" she whispered sharply, touching Mrs. Penstemmon's claw-like hand.

The woman's eyes instantly shot open, her eyes piercing. Sophie, however, felt no amount of hesitation as she pulled the elder woman to her feet. "We must hide," Sophie informed her. "The Witch of the Waste's looking for you. She's going to kill you!"

Mrs. Penstemmon nodded wearily. "Yes, I know. I feel her approaching."

"Then we have to hurry!"

Mrs. Penstemmon looked at Sophie's state. Her hair was disheveled, she was barefoot, and her cheeks were flushed and wet from running so long and so hard. "Miss Hatter, you should sit down. You very well might pass out if you don't relax for a moment."

"But I can't!" Sophie wailed. "We have to hide or something! The Witch wants to kill you! I think!"

"Oh, she will kill me, you may be assured of that. But I have lived a long life, Miss Hatter. And she will only continue to come until she finds me."

"Then come to the moving castle with me! Howl will make sure you're safe!"

Mrs. Penstemmon smiled and patted Sophie's hand. "You're a good girl. You'll save him yet."

"I don't know what you're talking about, and frankly I don't care. Will you just come with me and we can go--"

"No." Mrs. Penstemmon said this with finality, and Sophie found herself letting go of the old woman. "I'm going to face her. If I can keep up my strength, I shall live, although I highly doubt I can."

"You're being a senile, stupid, stubborn old lady, now go _hide!_"

Mrs. Penstemmon laughed. "You will be just like me someday, I dare say. You're rather stubborn yourself. No, it's better this way. She's come to ask about Howl, no doubt. It's better that I'm one less flank Howl needs to worry about."

"That's not true! He doesn't want you to _die_!"

"I know that, but believe me, Miss Hatter, it's better this way. I can see the future slightly more than the average magic-user can. Trust me, this is for the best."

Suddenly, Sophie found herself on the floor, invisible, feeling bound by something far more substantial than rope. Her body would not move except to allow her to breathe and to move her eyes about and to blink, and her voice would not work.

"Thank you for trying so hard, Sophie. Look after Howl for me. He really is a good boy."

And then the Witch entered the room, tall and proud and malicious. "Mrs. Penstemmon, I presume."

"The Witch of the Waste, I expect."

"Now that introductions are out of the way, I'd like you to tell me about Howl."

"Then I'm afraid you're wasting your time."

A deadly glint appeared in the Witch's eye. "Do not underestimate me, Mrs. Penstemmon. You will suffer the circumstances if you do. Now, tell me about Howl."

Sophie, although she was behind Mrs. Penstemmon, could tell the old woman had her most determined expression on. "Over my dead body."

"Very well. I shall take your word for it." The Witch smiled and proceeded to mutter several things.

Suddenly, blood rained down and barely missed Sophie.

The corpse fell to the floor.

The Witch left.

* * *

Howl and Michael ran through the open door, nearly gagging as they saw the doorman lying dead on the floor. Howl's eyes swept the room, but the residue of magic had subsided. The Witch was long gone.

They bolted to the place they had last seen Mrs. Penstemmon, hoping against hope that there would be a survivor.

They shoved the door open.

There laid Mrs. Penstemmon, her skin pierced ripped open from magic and her blood covering everything.

Michael quickly went into the corner and vomited.

Howl walked numbly over, closing the old woman's eyes.

It was there he heard the whimpering.

Looking around, he saw Sophie just out of reach of the red liquid, still lying on the floor, shaking and crying softly.


	14. In Which there is a Family Reunion

**Prettyinpinkgal: Sorry for the wait, everyone! School kept me busy, as did finishing up some old stories of mine. However, summer has arrived, and with it, Chapter Twelve! Much thanks to my new beta, NamedForTheWind! I'm glad I teamed up with such a capable beta.**

**Thank you all for your reviews, and thanks especially to Xanthe Z. Young for urging me to update soon in her review response. Also, thank you to those who asked to beta for me. I appreciate the willingness. **

**One more thing: Since I'm usually not the sort of person to plan out a story and then write it out, I often forget to include details or put in a detail more than once, one of the reasons why I had decided to get a beta. The reason I bring this up is that I think I neglected to explain Martha and Lettie's situation in "Destiny". They never switch in my fanfic. Martha is known as Martha and works for Mrs. Fairfax. Lettie is Lettie and works at Cesari's. If there was some discrepancy before in previous chapters, sorry about that.**

**Now, without further ado, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Any recognizable phrases belong to the author.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER TWELVE: IN WHICH THERE IS A FAMILY REUNION  
**

Another bottle of brandy was empty. Howl sighed.

"Calcifer!" he declared. "We're out of alcohol!"

"I'm not surprised," Calcifer hissed back. "You drank three bottles today!"

"I'm quite entitled to it, I think, given what happened earlier today. I'm in the despair of depths."

"What?"

"The depths of despair. You knew what I meant."

"Howl, why don't you put the glass down and try to comfort Sophie? She was actually _there _when it happened."

Howl hiccuped, then frowned, setting his glass forcefully down onto the table. "You don't understand, Calcifer," he explained. "I can't stand it when a girl cri--_hiccup_--cries. And I think Sophie's doin' a _lot _of it."

Michael piped up, saying, "She's not."

"What?"

"I brought her a sandwich twenty minutes ago, and she didn't look like she was crying."

"Oh, good," Howl said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"But she did look sort of numb. That might be even worse than crying."

Howl cursed.

"There, now," Calcifer said mockingly. "You don't need to worry about any tears, so go ahead and talk to her."

"She wouldn't talk to me, but at least you could get her annoyed or _some_thing," Michael added.

"I don't _want _to! I'm terrible at comforting! I'm heartless, remember?" Howl said pointedly to Calcifer.

"Believe me, I know," the fire replied.

A swish of a curtain made the group perk up and turn to the little room under the stairs. Sophie stood there, hands on her hips, a strained, annoyed smile on her lips. "I can hear you, you know."

"Sophie!" cried Michael. "Are you alright? Here, have a seat." He hastily got up and motioned a hand towards the chair he had previously occupied.

"Oh, stop acting like I'm so fragile! I'm not about to burst into tears again, so don't you worry," she huffed. Sophie glanced at the empty bottle on the table. "Drat," she hissed.

"Oh, no," groaned Calcifer. "Please don't tell me you drink, too. We have a hard enough time dealing with _him_." He gestured towards Howl, who was staring at Sophie (although he was having quite a hard time with it; he couldn't seem to focus).

"Normally, I don't. But I think a sip might be helpful."

Sophie sat in the chair Michael had offered, feeling very depressed. Meeting Howl's gaze for the first time, she said quietly, "I'm sorry, Howl."

Despite the drunken glaze over his marble eyes, he looked at her sharply. "You did all you could."

"No, I didn't. I...I think I really should leave the castle. Permanently. "

There was a moment of silence. Then, the three other occupants began their protests.

"What about our agreement?!" Calcifer wailed.

"You can't go, Sophie! What about that fiance of yours?! And I...sort of like having you around. And what will I tell Martha?" Michael demanded.

Howl, meanwhile, was really, truly angry now, enough so that he cast a spell to rid himself of the alcohol's influence, although it brought about a hangover that much sooner. Glaring at her, he accused, "You've become as cowardly as I am!"

Sophie stiffened, ready to fight back. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me! Some unfortunate things happen, and you're ready to go!"

"What am I supposed to do! I deliver your curse right to you, and now Mrs. Pentstemmon's dead because I didn't work hard enough! This is beyond being the eldest of three sisters--I must be cursed!"

"Stop yelling! My head hurts!"

"_You're _yelling, too!"

"I know, and it hurts like you wouldn't believe, but I can't think of any other way of getting through to you!"

"Well, you're still not convincing me of anything!"

Now Howl's face contorted with rage, and--although Sophie suspected she was imagining it--hurt. "I'll make green slime again," he threatened in a deadly quiet voice.

"I don't care."

The two glowered at each other, one with eyes of cold steel, the other with burning fire. The opposites clashed and fought and allowed no clear victor.

However, while they both refused to back down, Sophie was starting to lose heart. She really should stay and help Calcifer and with the curse--and, blast it all, hadn't she gone through the reasoning for her stay before?--but perhaps she would help them more by leaving.

And then she registered what Michael had said.

She whirled round to face him, forgetting all about Howl, which annoyed him very much. "Michael, what did you say?"

"When?"

"Just a minute ago! What did you say about Martha!" She grabbed hold of the boy's shoulders and managed to restrain herself from shaking him.

"Well, I asked what I would tell her if you left."

"We are talking about the same Martha, aren't we? She twiddles her thumbs whenever she's telling the truth?"

"She does, doesn't she?" he laughed, fondly recalling previous conversations with the youngest Hatter girl.

Sophie's eyes widened. "Michael, are you..._fond_ of Martha?"

The pink on his cheeks was all the answer she needed.

Well! This was certainly a surprise! _Michael's a sweet boy_, thought Sophie; _Martha chose well, but it's still strange to think that she has someone serious in her life. She is only fifteen._

"Sophie, would you like to come with me tomorrow to see her? She's been worried sick about you, and the only reason she avoided coming her herself is that she wanted to make sure you would be alright with seeing her."

She bit her lip. "She won't let Fanny or Mr. Collins know, will she?"

"Of course not!" Michael protested adamantly. "She's been furious with her mother for pressuring you into marrying him! And she hates that man, anyway. What was it she called him? Oh, right: 'A disgustingly boring fool who is sexist and a proud idiot.' "

"That does sound like Martha," her half-sister said with a small laugh.

"She can be so passionate," Michael agreed, his voice filled with affection.

Howl, meanwhile, had had enough with being forgotten. "Who's Martha?" he demanded.

"My half-sister," Sophie replied, then proceeded to bombard Michael with questions regarding her welfare.

"You'll see her tomorrow," Howl said huffily. How he despised being neglected! Grabbing her hand almost roughly, he pulled her towards the door. "Come on, we're leaving."

"Where?" Sophie asked, bewildered. _Honestly,_ she thought, _he switches from one extreme to another!_

"To Wales," he replied curtly, dragging her through the darkness and slamming the door behind him.

Michael and Calcifer stared after them. "Should I go with them before Howl does something rash?" Michael asked, although it was obvious by his tone that he'd much rather stay home. "I mean, he looks like he might get really angry, and you know how he is when he's like that. Even worse, what if he starts to create slime again?"

"In that case," Calcifer crackled in reply, "let _that _place deal with his tantrums. Just so long as I don't have to hear it."

Michael hesitated, then nodded. "But what about Sophie?" he asked as an afterthought.

"Oh, she'll easily make him regret annoying her."

* * *

"Howl?"

"Yes, my dear Sophie?"

She sighed; he was back to his charming self, it seemed. "Why are we here?"

"I thought a change of surroundings would do us both some good."

"Do you even remember what happened when we were here last?"

"Of course."

"You said it was dangerous here."

"I did, yes."

"And yet we're back?"

"The Witch wouldn't suspect we'd be in Wales right after Mrs. Pentstemmon's death. She'd think we'd be cowering in the castle."

"Which you want to do."

"That's beside the point. Now, first thing's first: Medication for this hangover."

Sophie glanced up at him. "Can't you get rid of it yourself?"

"I could, but I'd rather not work any unnecessary magic while the Witch is on the prowl."

Sophie hadn't had any time to consider her surroundings, so confused was she by Howl's decision to take her to Wales. But now she glanced about her, her memory of the mysterious land called Wales renewed by seeing it once again, despite the darkness which draped over the earth save for the small moon overhead. It really was quite different from her own Ingary...but perhaps that was the point of Howl taking her here, she realized. Perhaps, it was to distract her (and himself) from the detestable act committed in her native country. She could not help but become more than a bit appreciative of this--if he had, in fact, intended to be so kind, which was, in her mind, doubtful.

Before she could look about some more, a high-pitched squeal startled her. Before she knew it, her clothes had blurred to become a blouse and a scandalously short skirt. Howl's, too, had changed, displaying a baggy jacket with the words "WELSH RUGBY".

"Mari!" he then cried, holding his arms out for the small girl as she bounded up towards the two. He spun her round and round, which made her laugh.

"Uncle Howell!" she cried, her smile infectious. The two began chattering away in Welsh.

"Mari," Howl said in between bursts of the strange language, "you've met Sophie before, haven't you?" One might never have guessed what pain the noise was causing his poor head, but his niece was so sweet--and was the only member of his family who seemed to care at all about him--that he didn't have the heart to complain or tell Mari to quiet down, although she seemed to be rising in volume the more she talked. This did not, however, prevent him from wincing quite often.

Mari finally acknowledged what he had said, whipping her head around to see Sophie, who smiled and waved.

"_Sophie!_" The girl flailed her arms about until her uncle set her back down on the ground so she could now tackle Sophie with a hug. "I thought I'd never ever see you again!"

"Hello, Mari!" laughed Sophie.

Howl, meanwhile, seemed a bit disappointed that his planned alone-time with Sophie had been interrupted. _But_, he mused, _I'm glad to see Mari likes Sophie so much. My niece always was an excellent judge of character._

"Cariad, I need to go get some medicine now. How about you show Sophie all of your new toys?" Howl asked.

"But I want to show them to you, too!" Mari huffed.

"I'll see them in a moment. Sophie, make yourself at home."

Just then, Mari's mother made her appearance. "Mari, what have I told you about going outside at night?" she demanded.

"Mother, Uncle Howell's back! And so's Sophie!"

Megan fixed her eyes upon the two. "Howell! Can't you at least call before popping up out of nowhere?"

Howell laughed. "Well, actually, I hadn't planned on visiting. But since Mari seems adamant on our staying, I suppose we will. If that's alright," he added, taking note of Megan's annoyed expression.

"Actually, I--" Megan began, obviously preparing on giving a long lecture.

"Megan! How good to see you again!" Sophie cried, anxious to avoid an argument. _Goodness_, she thought, _it's no wonder Howl is such an expert of slithering out of things! _I _want to slither out of fighting, and I barely know Megan!_

The woman now whirled on Sophie, surprise written all over her angular face. "Aren't you... Yes, you are, aren't you? I thought you said you didn't know Howell!"

"At the time, I hadn't," Sophie replied. It was the truth; she hadn't known Howl was really named Howell.

"I bumped into her in Knighton, and I was surprised that she met you. I took her out to dinner, and we've been spending time together since," Howl replied smoothly with a grin and wink in Sophie's direction.

"What nonsen--!" Sophie began to whisper with a forced grin. _Why_, she thought, indignant, _did he come up with _that _excuse of all things?!_

However, she was cut off by Megan, who was appalled. "Sophie, let me warn you now: Find someone else. My little brother is not the sort of person you want to be around, and especially not date!"

"Mother!" Mari cried importantly and excitedly, not knowing what the grown-ups were talking about and, frankly, not caring. "Can Uncle Howell and Sophie stay for dinner?"

Sophie replied, "Well, we actually ate--"

"Very well. It would be rude of me to say no," Megan said, although it appeared she would rather ignore propriety than have her disreputable brother and his strange friend over for dinner.

They went inside, with Sophie being led by Mari to her few toys and Howl immediately searching for any medication. Megan grumbled about the inconvenience and started slamming pots and pans onto the countertop in preparation for cooking.

"And I got this one for Christmas!" Mari exclaimed, shoving a doll at Sophie.

"How nice," Sophie replied with a grin as she took in the room and the small group of toys. "Where is your brother, Mari?"

"That meanie's upstairs," the child replied in a tone which suggested Neil was not worth discussing. "He called my dolls stupid today."

"That wasn't very nice."

"He's a --censored-- idiot."

Sophie gaped at the annoyed girl. She hadn't even known _that _word until she was fourteen! "Y-you shouldn't use such language, Mari!"

"It's okay; Father and Neil use it all the time."

Sophie was horrified. Using such language was one thing--she felt that certain situations called for it--but using it in front of an impressionable child was an entirely different matter. And young ladies in Ingary were not even supposed to know any crude words anyway!

Unsure if it was just lack of discretion or an excusable, common occurrence in this world, Sophie decided to let the matter drop. "I'll go see if your mother needs any help."

"You won't play with me?"

The heartbroken expression on sweet Mari's face was too much. "I will after dinner, alright?"

The child beamed and nodded. As Sophie left the room, Mari began busying herself to adjust her dolls for their upcoming fun-time with Sophie. She was positively thrilled; Mother never bothered with playing with her, and since Uncle Howell moved out he had hardly come to visit at all, let alone have time to play with her. Mari dearly hoped that Sophie would make Uncle Howell visit more often; they were both the nicest people she knew.

"Megan?" Sophie asked as she entered the kitchen. "Would you like any help?"

The woman froze, then relaxed. "Th-that's alright, Sophie."

However, the Ingarian woman knew unhappiness when she saw it. Sophie recognized the meal being made--luckily, there appeared to be _some _similarities between Ingary and Wales--and quickly pitched in. As she snuck a glance at Megan's face, she was surprised to see a woman who was obviously exhausted and depressed. This startled Sophie; she had subconsciously believed Megan had two settings: happy (to see an annoying person leave) and irritated (to see an annoying person come to try and talk to her). The expression on Megan's face seemed terribly familiar...

It took a moment for Sophie to place where she had seen it before. When she did, she very nearly smacked her forehead in mortification at her sluggish mind. Of course; it was the very expression that had appeared on her own face several times, one which she had tried to correct as she stared at her mirror back home. It included a morose brow, a lack of sparkle in eyes, and a mouth which was prepared to give a halfhearted smile if one's friends needed reassurance that one was happy or frown to create a mask of disapproval at everyone else but oneself.

It was the very look of one resigned to a fate one did not want.

_Goodness! Who would have thought I could relate to Megan! _Sophie thought as she stirred. Such a revelation was very strange indeed.

"Your daughter is very sweet," she said hesitantly.

"Yes, she is, but she can be so bothersome at times."

"How old is she?"

"She's five."

"I see. They can be a handful at that age."

Megan did a double take. "You don't mean to say you have your own children?!"

"No, of course I don't! I helped raise my two sisters, in a way; that's all I meant."

Howl's sister sighed with relief. "I see. But aren't you a bit..._young _for Howell? He is twenty-seven."

_That old! _"E-er, well--"

Thankfully, the man himself spoke from the table just then. "But it's _love_, Megan!"

Or, perhaps, rather than thankfully, unfortunately might be a better word choice.

"I'm sure," his sister replied sarcastically.

There were some comments such as "could you pass the pepper?" and "it smells delicious" before the two ladies whirled round to face Howl with uncharacteristic squeals.

"When did you get there?" Sophie demanded, glaring at his lazy self, who was just sitting there, doing _nothing _to help, while she and Megan were working hard to prepare dinner...

"Why, I came in right after you did, Sophie dear. I'm hurt that you didn't notice me! But a kiss might make me forgive you," he said innocently.

Sophie had to grip the counter so she wouldn't throw the frying pan at his head.

Luckily, Megan felt it was her duty as a big sister to walk over and whack Howl over the head.

"Hey!" he cried out in protest.

"Don't make such distasteful comments then!"

"You're just jealous because you didn't have a proper courtship like I'm giving Sophie," retorted Howl, pausing only to throw a dazzling (and infuriatingly charming) grin Sophie's way.

When Megan paused, Sophie's eyes quickly darted towards her face. Ah, yes. There was that expression again. "I had a little brother to take care of, if you recall," she growled. "I couldn't find a job to take care of us both, and Gareth came along--"

"So you married him as soon as you could," Howl finished rather bitterly. "But you should have looked harder. Isn't marriage for convenience a medieval notion, Sophie?"

"I--"

"Never mind; you wouldn't be a suitable judge, coming from your...background."

Sophie retorted, "If you don't want me to answer, don't talk to me!"

Megan, meanwhile, had gone back to preparing the meal with renewed vigor and speed, putting her irritation to good use. Sophie mentally applauded her. Megan's actions then slowed considerably, and her guest watched with amusement and interest at the scene.

"You know, Howell," Megan said kindly, her back still towards him, "Gareth is coming home early today. Just in time for dinner."

Sophie was standing close enough to Howl to hear him curse under his breath. "Well, then, we'd better go and get out of your way," he then said with his usual charm.

"Why, please don't go!" cried his sister with overdone sweetness. "You simply _must _stay. Gareth would be _happy _to see you, and I won't turn out my baby brother and his friend just because he's coming home!"

Sophie had now learned a very important lesson: Even the best slither-outer in all the worlds cannot always escape his clever sister and the looming threat of his brother-in-law.

As if on cue, the door opened, and in came a muscular man whom Sophie suspected to be Gareth. Slamming the door behind him, he yelled "I'm home!" and proceeded to rant to his wife--not checking to see if she was in earshot, just expecting it--about his various issues with work and how his boss promoted the completely wrong man and how the newly promoted employee was a complete imbecile and a son of a--

"Gareth, look who's here!" Megan cut in, a bright smile on her face as she waved her hands towards Sophie and a very ill-looking Howl (or perhaps he was only hung-over still).

Megan's husband glanced impatiently towards the guests, not hiding his surprise and irritation as he recognized his brother-in-law. "Howell," he said in a mature, but obviously strained, voice.

"Gareth," Howl greeted with the same tone.

Megan smiled at the scene, pleased with the punishment her brother would now undergo.

And Sophie smiled halfheartedly, no longer entertained and presently wondering if someone else would die before the day ended.


	15. Which is Unlucky and Unfortunate

**Prettyinpinkgal: Chapter Thirteen is finally here, and I suppose while I was writing it, it gave me its bad luck! I somehow keep getting myself into situations I had no intention on writing, and then I have to figure my way out of them, which is difficult when my brain feels like it is slowly melting away in the summer heat. Plus, I'm sort of spazzing due to failing my driver's test (I ran into a pole...TT) and my summer homework (which has not been touched yet) and my concern for what college I'm going to... I feel like I'm having a midlife crisis and I'm not even seventeen yet! But I've vented now, so I feel a bit better.**

**I wanted this chapter out as soon as possible though, and so that's why it's not beta-ed. I tried so hard not to make Megan, Howell, and Gareth's past not what I've read in other fanfiction, but I'm afraid it still is quite like what I've read. So sorry about that. And I think many of the situations are awkward and dumb and just out of place, but you know what? I don't care anymore. I'll just try and pretend I'm being overcritical and I'll just post the chapter. Can you tell I've been stressed?**

**Well, I hope you all enjoy it, because maybe by the grace of God it won't be as much of a trainwreck as I think it is.**

**Oh, and one positive thing: 119 reviews for this story, and it's not even close to ending yet! Yay! Thanks everyone! That really cheers me up, and as you can tell, I need it. And some more reviews, good or bad, might cheer me up even more, hint hint. ;)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: WHICH IS FITTINGLY UNLUCKY AND UNFORTUNATE  
**

"What brings you here, Howell?" Gareth asked in a restrained manner. "Meg didn't tell me you would be stopping by."

"She hadn't known. I was passing by and Mari invited me in," replied Howl.

"I see," said his brother-in-law.

There was a tense silence which followed. Gareth cracked his knuckles--whether it was done out of habit or to seem threatening was unknown.

Howl stood, the pleasant look on his face plastered on. "Well, while I'm here, I may as well pick up some books I left behind when I was kick--when I left."

Megan responded perkily as she placed the food on some plates. "I'm afraid I sold them, Howell. I'm dreadfully sorry."

Howl gaped at his sister, unable to believe it. "You...sold them? _All _of them?"

"I thought you weren't going to come get them, so I thought I might as well sell them."

Howl was now absolutely livid, Sophie observed, finding herself step back. Despite how unpredictable his mood swings were, she somehow understood that this was him truly furious, and he would not soon forget his anger.

"You _sold _them, Megan! What the bloody heck is _wrong _with you?! You knew very well that I wanted to keep those books, and if a certain pair hadn't thrown me out on the street without any warning, I would never have had to leave them here in the first place!"

"Howell, you're overreacting," Megan said calmly, walking to the table to set down the plates. "Isn't this nice, having the whole family here for dinner? Sophie, feel free to make yourself at home. I hope this isn't too awkward for you." It seemed like she meant it, too; Megan had just realized how uncomfortable an outsider might feel with such tension in the air.

"Thank you," said Sophie, walking over to take a seat as far away from the two men as possible. "I'm fine." However, at just as she was about to pull out the chair, Howl grabbed her wrist and all but dragged her towards the chair next to his. She decided it wouldn't hurt; she couldn't help but think that if this would comfort him in some way, then she wouldn't mind.

He looked like he needed comfort, too. He looked very pale but not at all willing to back down to _this _opponent. It didn't help, Sophie was sure, that he had to deal with Gareth after finding his tutor's corpse. And his sister, too!

_What a long day_, she thought in exhaustion, the events catching up with her again. _And I met the king, too. Goodness, I met the _king! _And I didn't even remember at first!_

"Mari! It's time for dinner!" Megan called.

There was the sound of urgent footsteps as the little girl burst into the room. "Father!" she screamed.

"Mari, wash your hands," her father said.

"Okay," the child said, obviously disappointed that her warm welcome wasn't better received. Grabbing a nearby stool, she washed her hands at the sink and then sat at her usual spot, which was right across from Howl and Sophie. "Uncle Howell, do you want to play dolls with me and Sophie later?" Mari asked hopefully.

Gareth cut in with a, "Actually, your uncle was going to head home after dinner."

Howl smiled at Mari. "Well, if your parents don't mind, I'd be honored to play with you."

"Pleasepleasepleaseplease_please?_" she begged her father.

Not wanting to seem like the antagonist in front of his daughter, he relented, which resulted in a large cheer from Mari.

"Indoor voices," chided Megan. "Go get your brother."

In record time, Mari bolted up the stairs, her little feet pattering on the steps. The adults listened with varying degrees of amusement as they listened to Neil call out in protest.

"It's time for dinner, poo-head!" Mari yelled loudly.

"I don't bloody _care!_ You just shut off my game before I could save it!"

"I don't bloody care!" retorted Mari with a tone which suggested she was proud to use her brother's words against him.

"You're such a brat!"

Mari screamed, and the smiles on the faces of the company downstairs faded as they listened to clashes, bangs, and then tumbles down the stairs as Mari landed on the floor, took off under the table, and hid behind Howl.

Neil cursed loudly several times as he nearly fell on his face after reaching the floor, then hastily scanned the room for Mari. Instead of his sister, however, he spotted Sophie.

Immediately, the furious expression melted away to reveal the look of a boy in the middle of his first experience with puppy love. "Sophie!" he cried happily, walking over to the seat between she and his mother and sitting. "I didn't know you were here!"

Mari, meanwhile, felt it was safe enough to go to her chair and skittered off towards it, all the while not taking her eyes off of the scene between her brother and her (hopefully) future aunt. She had been eavesdropping on a conversation between Neil and one of his stupid friends soon after they had met Sophie, and therefore knew her older brother believed the young woman to be "_really _pretty. And nice, too! She's got the greatest red hair. Really, you should have seen her. I'm old enough to date her, don't you think?" Mari hoped not. Being young and having little idea of what the decent age difference would be between two people who were seeing each other, she decided she'd have to take matters into her own hands and keep Sophie with Uncle Howell, or else she might not _ever _have an auntie.

Presently, the family had begun eating, with the silence interrupted only by Neil's attempts at conversation with Sophie. Gareth and Megan exchanged looks each time Neil began speaking, happy that he wasn't being his usual antisocial self but concerned over the motive for his desire to chat. Howl, meanwhile, was just hurt that even in Wales he was completely ignored and began sulking, although it was not nearly as obvious as it would have been had his family not been present. His mood was not improved as he half-listened to Neil's attempts at flirting with Sophie.

Finally, Neil, from lack of practice, ran out of topics to talk about, and Sophie, not knowing what Neil would be familiar with, just smiled and ate, a bit relieved that she did not have to answer questions she did not know the answers of (what on earth was a video game? And she had no idea what the different movies were that he had spoken of!).

Then, the interrogation began again, this time with Gareth being the questioner. "So, Sophie, is it? Are you Howell's new girlfriend?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she is," replied Howl lightly, putting an arm around her and not even blinking when she kicked him underneath the table.

"You do know his reputation," said Gareth, not even glancing at Howl. "He's always been a good-for-nothing lady's man--"

"Gareth," Howl said with attempted civility. However, Megan's husband did not stop.

"--not able to stay with one girl for very long. I remember several girls came crying to our house back when he lived here--"

"Before I was rudely kicked out," grumbled Howl, evidently realizing there was no stopping Gareth when there was an opportunity to complain about him.

"--demanding to know why Howell had dumped them when he had said how much he loved them."

"I hate commitment," Howl ground out. _For heaven's sake! _he thought irritably. _I wouldn't mind so much if he was saying these things in private, but in front of my niece and nephew? Thanks ever so much, Gareth, for turning my family against me! _He refused to think that it might partially be his fault for living up to his reputation.

"I think I have heard something like that before," Sophie answered, her little respect for Howl diminishing even more. At the same time, however, she lost respect for Gareth as well. Saying such things in front of impressionable children--and Howl's own niece and nephew--was not at all appropriate. "But Howell seems to have changed," she added.

Sophie tried to ignore Howl's grateful expression, but she found herself caving and gave him an almost imperceptible smile.

"Oh really? I find that hard to believe," Gareth said.

Mari and Neil wisely stayed out of the conversation, focusing their energy on eating.

Megan, meanwhile, began to feel a tad guilty. She was, after all, still Howell's sister. She shouldn't stand for her husband's belittling of her younger brother. However, she could not bring herself to rise to Howell's defense. The last thing she needed was another argument with Gareth over Howell's behavior and how he is "an embarrassment to the family". Megan found that merely accepting Gareth's opinion as her own saved her a lot of trouble.

_This had seemed like a brilliant plan at the beginning, _she thought. _I didn't think Gareth would be this rude. I'm sorry I ever came up with this stupid idea._

Her discomfort, however, was evident. Sophie had glanced over at her and saw the woman was torn. "But who wouldn't be," Sophie muttered under her breath, "if caught between one's brother and husband."

"Did you say something, Sophie?" Howl asked, hoping she had said something else for his defense. He couldn't very well defend himself--he was currently balancing on a very thin rope, one which he was very familiar with due to past arguments of the same nature. If he became too defensive, Gareth would happily rise to the challenge, and that would result in a full-blown verbal fight...although it could become a physical one as well, considering Gareth's explosive temper and Howl's own anger. On the other hand, if he remained silent, his pride would continue to be hurt by this uncouth brute. Howl's vanity and cowardice clashed in an unseen battle.

"I said, I can understand why you would be upset, Howl--Howell. Michael says such things about you unwillingly, and you encourage him, but I suppose if your own family is saying such things as a means of insulting you... Well, I would find that distasteful as well."

Gareth bristled at this. "I'm afraid this is something between _family_, Sophie. Besides, I'm doing you a favor, letting you know of his history."

Sophie smiled coolly. "But that makes no sense--Gareth, is it? You say you're 'doing me a favor', but when I criticize it, you claim it's 'between family'. So which is it: a family argument or a token of knowledge for me? If the former, perhaps it's rude of me to do so, but I feel I should intervene and ask you to stop; it's very awkward for an outsider to watch such a scene. If the latter, I thank you, but I have no need for such information. I already know exactly what Howell's like and always give him an earful about it, but I don't think it's something we should speak about in front of children."

"Sophie," Neil said wonderingly. "You're so brave!" No one else had ever dared to speak to his father in such a bold manner! Then, with a heavy heart, he realized Sophie had used "children"--plural. It was now Neil's turn to sulk and pick at his food.

As Gareth reddened and tried to regain his dignity, both Howl and Megan shot Sophie impressed and grateful looks. The latter merely smiled indulgently at Mari and asked if she was ready to play dolls. The child quickly forgot the tension and gobbled down her food, jumped down from her chair, and put her plate by the sink, as well as Sophie and Howl's without asking if they were done. Anxious to escape, everyone but Megan and Gareth left the table.

"Neil's going to play with Mari?" Gareth asked his wife, bewildered.

Grateful for a safe topic to discuss, Megan nodded. "He likes Sophie."

"I sort of got that," Gareth said sarcastically. "Why, though, I have no idea. She's incredibly rude!"

Megan shushed him. "She might hear you!"

"Let her hear me," he grumbled, drinking some whiskey. "Maybe she'll change her attitude."

"You should change your attitude," Megan said, surprisingly quiet.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gareth said just as quietly.

"You know very well what I mean." Emboldened by Sophie's stand, Megan looked into her husband's eyes with dignity. "Try _thinking_ for once, Gareth. You've always been nothing but rude to Howell, even when he was only a kid. He is my brother, despite what he's like. I've tried to be a good wife and be on your side, but I need to be a good sister too."

"What the h--- has gotten into you, Megan?" he demanded, his voice rising slightly.

"I mean, I'm tired. You're gone all day and when you come back..."

Gareth noticed with slight alarm her use of "come back", rather than "come home".

"...When you come back you rant about your coworkers and how terrible your life is and all that crap. Did you ever stop to think maybe _I _feel that way sometimes? My job never ends. At least when Howell lived here he helped out whenever he could, despite his busy social life and college work. Which is more than I can say for _you_! You don't help out with the kids; you barely have any sort of relationship with them!"

"How did this get to be about the kids?! And don't give me that relationship crap; you know d--- well that you do hardly anything but nag at them."

"Whose fault is that? If you would help more--!"

"If you would have told me earlier--!"

"I shouldn't have to tell you, you're my _husband_!"

"And don't I regret it!"

The silence which followed was even more destructive than the heated words.

After waiting some time to see if he would apologize, or take her hand in his, or _something_, Megan's heart was crushed even more when he just took out a cigarette and started smoking, pointedly focusing his gaze on the oven.

Perhaps Howell was right. Perhaps she did marry Gareth just to give her brother--and herself--some sort of stable environment after Dad ran off with that other woman, and Mum died. Still, she honestly did have feelings for Gareth at the beginning which were bordering on love, and during the marriage she had fallen for him. Now, she had no idea why. Was it true love, or just the idea of being in love?

Megan needed a break. She loved her children, despite how she might act, but she hadn't had any sort of vacation from the responsibility of looking after the house and her daughter and son. She hadn't even had a dinner away since Mari had been born. And now this revelation. She was going to snap if she didn't get away for just a few days at least. She would not allow herself to think of what Gareth's words meant for their future until she could think in peace.

"By the way," Megan said quietly, recalling what sparked the argument. "Sophie is generally very polite, from what I've seen. And I'm grateful that she stood up to you. I'm glad someone was able to put you in your place. And I can tell she's smart. She won't allow Howell to walk all over her and just throw her out when he's done using her. And I think he won't this time, either. So don't insult him or her."

Donning a calm facade, she swept past Gareth and entered the living room, where the so-called couple and her own children were, acting out "Cinderella" with dolls. As she stood in the doorway, she noticed how much more relaxed Mari was when she was around Howell, and even Sophie. Megan's eyes swept to Neil, who was by Sophie's side, of course, which his mother would have comical any other day. In between bits of dialogue between the dolls, Howell would occasionally ask Neil a question about school, his friends, his video games, etc. And Megan noticed how her son practically scoffed at his attempts at communication. She could not help but wonder if this was her fault, for saying what a good-for-nothing his uncle was when Neil was within earshot.

She watched the group, unnoticed by them, until Cinderella got back her glass slipper and married the prince, thus living happily ever after. Megan numbly wondered why the creator of the story had made it end with "happily ever after". It wasn't as though such a thing existed. What if Cinderella suspected the prince of having an affair, as she had done a few years back? Had Cinderella cursed at her husband during every contraction when she was in labor?

Her thoughts were disrupted by Neil's reluctant mentioning of his schoolwork. "I have a new teacher, a Miss Angorian. I think she's a witch. She's evil like one."

Sophie dropped her doll. "Miss Angorian? What does she look like?"

Neil described her happily for Sophie. "She's always really serious. My classmates all agree she's really beautiful, but we've never once seen her crack a smile. She has a really throbbing voice--it sounds like this," he told her, mimicking his teacher.

Megan watched with great curiosity as Sophie struggled to smile. "O-oh, I think I, er, dropped something over there." She went to the other side of Howell, and Megan noticed how she almost imperceptibly muttered something to Howell. It must have been something of great importance, for Howell's eyes widened in surprise, then in anger.

His sister waited for some time to see if this strange scene would be explained at all, but all that occurred was Sophie going back to her original spot and they resumed the game, this time acting out "Snow White", at Mari's request. (Lucky for Sophie, these classic fairy tales had been told in Ingary as well, and she was very grateful for it.)

Once the prince and princess were declared by Mari to be off to live happily ever after, Megan decided to interrupt. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she heard the door close in the kitchen. Without turning around, she knew it was Gareth leaving to smoke and escape the problem he created.

Had he? Or had he only verbalized what had been silently raging between them?

"Howell, can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked.

He glanced at her, no doubt trying to discern whether she was out to start yet another fight. It took only a moment, however, to notice that the normally fiery eyes of his sister had dimmed to nothing but ice, much as his own looked like.

Going into the kitchen, she stated her proposal in its entirety.

"Hold on," asked a bewildered Howl. "You want me to take Neil and Mari home with me while you go to France?"

"Yes."

"Well, don't you have a neighbor who could watch over the kids and the house?"

"I'd rather not have Neil and Mari around Gareth."

Howl paused, then stated, "Gareth's not going with you to France."

"No."

"What happened?"

Megan shrugged. Normally, she insulted others for being so improper. Now, all self-righteousness had vanished, leaving a weary, unhappy housewife in its wake. "Things haven't been going well between us for sometime. Who knows; maybe it was from the very beginning. Tonight, though, it was acknowledged. Before I want to think too extensively on it, I want to get away. I have more than enough money saved."

"Any chance of patching it up?"

"I don't think so, Howell."

He fell silent, as did she.

Footsteps made them look up. Sophie walked in with a smile. "Neil wants to play video games. Will you join us?"

"Not right now, Sophie, my dear," Howl said with a forced smile.

Sophie, who had noticed the atmosphere just after she had finished speaking, furrowed her brow. "What's wrong? Is it something I could help with?"

"Just unhappy with my situation in life, that's all," Megan said with a dry smile.

"Well, _that's _something I understand," Sophie replied with a dry grin of her own.

"What do you mean?"

"My stepmother wanted me to marry the most odious man. Not only that, but I felt bound to my late father's hat shop. I worked there, you see, ever since he died a year ago. It made me a recluse, actually. Well, anyway, I left to seek my own fortune, promptly ending the engagement with Mr. Collins as well as my servitude in the shop."

"My goodness!" Megan cried. "And Howell says I'm old-fashioned! Your situation sounds positively medieval!"

Howl said, "Yes, but I rescued her from all that. The poor thing was so grate--"

"You didn't do that much," Sophie deadpanned, making Howl pout. "I would have left anyway, no matter what you did or said."

"Sophie," Howl whined.

"Oh, shush. Anyway, Megan," she said, facing the woman again. "I'm sure you just need a little vacation."

"You're happy now, then?"

"As happy as I could be," she said, giving a pointed annoyed look at Howl.

"What did I do?" he asked.

"My life's become too complicated thanks to you and the messes you get yourself into, like with a certain You-Know-Who."

Megan interrupted their squabbling. "Sophie, you have no idea how relieved I am to see that you can stand up for yourself when it comes to Howell. If he dumps you, let him have it, all right? Oh, that's right," she said, snapping her fingers, recalling her dreadful circumstances. "Howell, will you take care of Neil and Mari for me?"

Sophie blanched, knowing that if it was peculiar enough in her own world to see a moving castle, it must be completely unheard of in this one. Furthermore, how would he explain to the children where they were country-wise? Not to mention why the fire talked, or Howell could work magic, or why Sophie was living with him.

Howell paused, and Sophie and Megan both knew by his expression that he was certain he had slithered out of answering. "Fine."

Sophie quirked an eyebrow.

"Thank you, Howell! I promise I will never insult you--much. Only if you deserve it!" She kissed her brother on the cheek--openly affectionate for the first time in years--and he playfully wiped it off. "Oh, Sophie, you said you were going to play video games with Neil, right? Sorry to keep you here."

"No need to apologize," she said with a grin.

Megan told Howl to stay put; she would get some pie while they discussed when he could stop by for the kids and what the rules were that he had to enforce--she would not permit him to spoil the kids rotten. Sophie abandoned the siblings to go upstairs, where Mari and Neil were waiting anxiously with a third controller for her.

Gareth did not return inside. He smoked for a half hour, thought about lighting another cigarette, and then instead hopped into his car to drive to some unknown destination. However, the busybody neighbors which surrounded Rivendell noted that, since Gareth never left the house once arriving home from work, something must be wrong and a delightfully horrible fight must have occurred. They mourned that they had not been able to hear it, but rejoiced in the fact that they could simultaneously comfort poor Megan and get the details from her as well the next morning.

The rest of the night, with Gareth's absence and Megan's determination to focus on leaving and not why she was going abroad, passed rather peacefully, with the only raised voice being Neil's from his outbursts when Sophie beat him at video games when he hadn't even intended on letting her win. Mari was content, knowing her brother would never date someone who was better than him at Xbox. Sophie was smug, unable to resist the slight satisfaction of defeating a boy who dedicated his life to the strange interactive plays on the screen. Megan was...well, she wasn't quite sure yet, but there would be plenty of time to sort that out once she was in France.

And Howl was, despite his concern for his sister, happy, for Sophie seemed to get on with his family so well, and, a small voice in the back of his head said, if things kept going so well, they might welcome her as family too someday.


	16. In Which Sophie Finally Sees Her Sisters

**Prettyinpinkgal: Hello, everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry; I had this chapter done in September, but a bunch of things were going on at the time, hence the delay. I have a new beta now, Random Romantasist 999 (sorry if I didn't spell that right!), whom I'd like to thank for editing this chapter. To all my reviewers, thank you so much! I truly appreciate your interest and support.**

**Unfortunately for you Howl fans, he doesn't appear in this chapter, although his name pops up from time to time. Furthermore, I'm afraid there will be absolutely no new updates during November. I'm doing NaNoWriMo (go to nanowrimo. org for info) so I'm a bit busy, to say the least. However, I recently found out that I won our county library's flash fiction contest, so I'm full of energy at the moment! X3 Alright, that's enough details about my life. Onto the disclaimer! Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HMC.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: IN WHICH SOPHIE FINALLY SEES HER SISTERS  
**

It was almost noon when Sophie awoke the next day, fully refreshed and feeling as though she had returned to reality at last.

"Never," she swore to herself, "am I going to let Howl talk me into seeing any old tutors, kings, or family members. Particularly in one day."

An image of Mrs. Pentstemmon's corpse came unbidden to her mind, and she shook the memory away with a shudder. To keep such thoughts from her mind, she quickly got ready and began breakfast. She forced her mind to turn to thoughts about Neil and Mari, who would be joining them in the moving castle in one week.

"Good morning, Sophie!" Michael said happily--almost patronizingly--as he came down the steps, a bright smile on his lips.

"I'm fine," was her automatic reply. "It's bothering me more to see you try to be so chipper for my sake."

The strained smile became natural and sheepish. "Oh, alright. I didn't see how you were when you came back last night, so I wasn't sure how you would be feeling."

Sophie turned the discussion to how Michael wanted his eggs so he would not see how touched she was by his considerate gesture. It really was quite astounding how someone as sweet as Michael could stay so wonderful despite Howl's bad influence.

"So," Michael began a few minutes later, after he had swallowed a mouthful of eggs, "will you be seeing Martha today?"

Sophie glanced up in surprise, having entirely forgotten the matter. "Oh, that's right. Of course, as long as I won't be intruding on your time with her."

"Of course you wouldn't! You're her sister! I could stop in later to talk to her myself."

Due to Michael's urging and the lack of cleaning to be done (she wondered how that could be; she hadn't done any cleaning for quite a bit now), Sophie was soon on her way to Upper Folding, wondering how she should handle this turn of events. She hadn't decided how to approach Martha; what does one say to an opinionated sister when one suddenly appears after disappearing for a time? "Hello, how are you, please don't be angry that I didn't contact you?" Sophie could not help but snort at that. Martha would certainly be kind at first, making sure Sophie seemed all right, and then she would rant about how the _least _she could have done was write, and soon enough Martha would wear herself out; it would be quick but not pleasant at all.

Sophie didn't want to even consider her impending confrontation with Lettie, who was known to be less open-minded than Martha.

And then, since it wouldn't be fair to only see her sisters, she would have to face Fanny. Sophie still couldn't exactly think of her with affection, but she was still the closest thing she had to a mother, and deep down she knew Fanny loved all the Hatter girls and only wanted the best for them. However, Sophie could not be very forgiving yet.

The summer breeze whipped a few strands of red-gold hair from Sophie's braid as she walked the ten miles to Upper Folding, trying to hold onto the bravery she had gotten ever since she had met Howl...

She stopped, an expression of annoyance mixed with disgust on her face. Sophie hated feeling as though she owed him something. And she hated that she had become so soft when it came to him lately. He was still a womanizer, an aggravating, untidy, flirtatious person.

And a sweet uncle, a caring brother and pupil, and he was setting aside his own slither-outer nature to give his sister a few days of peace. Not to mention, he did help Sophie escape from a foul future.

Pride and guilt fought inside of her, and she set off again, although her steps were much more like stomps.

However, her conflicting emotions faded when she finally spotted Mrs. Fairfax's home. She could not help but smile at the picturesque scenery. Ever since she was a child, she had always enjoyed coming to Mrs. Fairfax's; not exactly for the company--for while the widow was as sweet as the honey she made, she could talk the ear off of visitors--but because of the lovely garden which greeted visitors as they made their way to the front porch.

"I'm heading to Market Chipping for a bit, Mrs. Fairfax!" The voice startled the smile off of Sophie's face. Her eyes turned from the gorgeous flowers and the bees happily buzzing about to the front door, which her half-sister was currently closing.

"Martha!"

The fifteen-year-old whirled round, spotted Sophie, gaped, then almost immediately snapped out of her stupor. Martha then ran to Sophie, nearly tackling the latter as she hugged her.

"Oh Sophie, it's so good to see you! But you should have written! How are you? Michael told me about you, and I wanted to see you so much, but I wasn't sure if it would be alright! ...And I'm talking too much, aren't I?" Her face was now flushed with excitement and embarrassment. She too had realized that Mrs. Fairfax's habit of commanding a conversation had rubbed off on her.

_Although,_ Sophie reasoned with a bit of sympathy for her half-sister, _she probably isn't able to get a word in with Mrs. Fairfax, so it must build up._

"Don't worry about it," Sophie said. "And I'm sorry for not letting you know where I was. I was afraid you might tell Fanny--"

"_What?_" Martha looked appalled, twiddling her thumbs. "I'm angry at her, too, you know! I haven't spoken to her at all since you left! She keeps trying to get me to, though. She keeps on pleading and saying," (sarcastically mimicking Fanny's voice) " 'I only meant _well_! I thought she _wanted _to marry Mr. Collins! I never would have thought she'd be so against it!' "

"...She doesn't sound that bad," was the nicest thing Sophie could say in her stepmother's defense.

"Now she does! Just recently, she's gotten this annoying throbbing sound and she's completely dramatic about everything. At first I thought she was genuine and was just affected by your leaving so suddenly, but when she visited for so long yesterday I knew there was something fake about her. If I didn't know better, I'd think she didn't care that you were gone!"

Now _that _was uncharitable indeed. Perhaps Fanny hadn't put Sophie's desires before her own, but she did love her, and Sophie knew that, and she proceeded to tell her sister so.

"I know I haven't been very nice about her, even since before you left, but I know what I'm talking about. Normally, Fanny and I are so alike, but yesterday's visit... Something seemed so wrong, Sophie. I can't understand it at all.

"But never mind that," Martha then said, taking her elder sister's hand and pulling her towards the house. "I want to hear everything that's happened. I feel bad for Michael; he wanted to tell me everything he knew but at the same time he was obviously worried that he'd be breaching your confidence."

"But weren't you going to Market Chipping?"

"I can go there anytime. Let's sneak to my room so Mrs. Fairfax won't listen in."

This was very easy to do, as a shout came from the backyard, which Martha explained was Mrs. Fairfax chasing the new dog. "He found us a week ago. He's a sweet thing, but can be rambunctious to say the least. Lettie just loves him. He's very clever, I think; why, it's almost like he's human."

Closing the door behind them, they sat on her bed, kicking off their shoes like they used to do when all three of them had worked on schoolwork together. "All right," Martha declared, a bit of annoyance once again gracing her features as the ecstasy of seeing Sophie began wearing off. "Tell me everything."

"Fine. But you must swear to tell no one. Not even Lettie. I'll tell her in good time. And please don't tell Fanny I visited or you know where I am; I'd much rather not see her now."

"You have my word," promised Martha. "Now talk."

Sophie started with her meeting Howl, then went on to talk about his whisking her away to the castle, the peculiar magic box with the most tragic plays, the talking fire, the strange world called Wales, and the run-ins with the Witch of the Waste.

While she had intended to give a mere overview, Martha kept asking questions, and it turned into a long-winded explanation. By the time she was finished, her throat was feeling quite dry.

If she had expected any sympathy from Martha, she would have been disappointed, for the girl's eyes were glistening with anger. "Sophie, I love you dearly, but I have _never _thought you'd be such a...such a...nincompoop!"

"Nincompoop?" Sophie repeated wryly, amused despite herself at Martha's choice of words.

"Do you know what your problem is? You're too bloody nice for your own good! You're too nice to abandon someone in trouble, and you're too nice to even _talk _to someone about your troubles!"

"Howl wouldn't exactly agree with me being nice," Sophie responded.

"Howl deserves any chastisement you give him! Michael insisted he wasn't nearly as bad as he made himself out to be, but he still isn't safe to be around, Sophie."

"So do you like Michael?" Sophie asked, anxious to change the subject (and slightly curious about this relatively new revelation).

Martha turned slightly pink, but kept calm as she replied, "Yes, I do. We plan on getting married."

"You're too young!"

"I know that. But someday we will, and we'll have ten children."

"You do realize that won't be as perfect as it sounds."

"Well, that's true. But I still want to have that many. Anyway, good try on getting me to change the subject, but we're back to you now. It seems Howl has rubbed off on you. What did you call him--a slither-outer?"

Sophie's response was to put her head in her hands in shame at another person noting this. As she did this, a sudden, unbidden thought came to mind, and she could not help but voice it. "Whatever happened to Mr. Collins?"

"Him? Oh, who knows. Probably off trying to find some other unfortunate girl to marry. I saw him a couple of times in Market Chipping, but I always ran away before he noticed me."

Sophie nodded, then jumped when she heard a knock on the door. "Martha?" the visitor called.

The sisters stared at each other. "Mother," said Martha in horror.

"Fanny," Sophie said simultaneously, feeling sick.

"Go into the closet--I _heard_! Just a second!--and hide. It's full of Mrs. Fairfax's old spells and potions, but it'll have to do. Would you please be _quiet_?!" she shouted to the door.

Sophie opened the closet door, carefully tried to make room for herself, then quietly shut it, instantly feeling claustrophobic.

She heard Martha open the bedroom door. "Go away." Sophie was tempted to remember to mention later that Martha's oath to stay silent when around her mother had been broken, but she soon was distracted by a sudden nervousness which caused her stomach to feel funny.

"Now _Mar_tha, is that anyway to speak to your mother?"

Even through the wooden door, Sophie could hear the slight change in Fanny's voice. It was most peculiar. Fanny had always had a rather sweet voice, but this was excessive, and had a certain something which seemed slightly familiar.

Sophie heard footsteps and the sound of the door shutting.

"Were you speaking to someone, dearest?"

"Just to myself. It's the only time I get to talk in this house."

Fanny laughed. That, too, was far too melodious to be her true laugh.

Sophie's crinkled her brow. Where on earth had she heard this voice before?

"Yes, I suppose so," Fanny said with a smile in her voice. "But I thought I heard someone else. Perhaps Sophie stopped by?"

"No, she didn't. Wait--are you going to snoop through my closet now?"

Sophie was grateful for Martha's smooth warning, but understood it was pointless. It was a small closet, and what little space there was was taken up by several magical items.

She could tell the footsteps had stopped, and faintly heard Martha and Fanny talking. However, she was far too distracted with trying to quietly find some sort of cloak of invisibility. The small part of her which wasn't dreadfully afraid was criticizing her fear--after all, it was only Fanny! Yet some basic, primal instinct, the sort that causes people to jump when startled, and to distrust certain acquaintances, had a hold of her, and she felt she could _not _allow her stepmother to find her.

Where on earth had she heard that voice before?!

There was no cloak. She felt her anger building up, but it was stifled by another wave of terror. It was almost reminiscent of the fear she felt when she met the Witch of the Waste.

This thought was forgotten as she heard the voices rise and heard footsteps approach again. Fanny was sounding very upset, and was possibly crying. Martha, meanwhile, merely snapped at her.

Sophie wrapped her arms round herself and closed her eyes. "Make me invisible," she murmured, her voice barely audible even in her own ears. "Make me invisible. Make me invisible. Become invisible. Turn invisible."

She tried kneeling, but found the space did not allow her to do so with her eyes closed. She opened them and scrunched into a ball on the ground, hoping against hope that her magic obeyed her.

And to her immense surprise, it did. In a way, at least. Apparently, because her hands had been on her dress sleeves as she had hugged herself, her whisper "turn invisible" had come true so that her dress had become a sort of cloak of invisibility. To her immense relief, she could hide most of her braid under her dress collar, and the mass of magic objects could obscure Fanny's view of her hands and head.

This discovery was made not a moment too soon. The door opened suddenly, and Sophie could just barely see Fanny's shoes. Evidently, some of the items Sophie had shoved out of the way had been piled unstably, and they now toppled on top of Sophie and the hem of Fanny's dress.

Sophie bit back a yelp as the corners of who-knew-what landed on her back painfully. Her stepmother, meanwhile, did not hold back.

"What _is _all this, Martha? You should tidy it up!"

"Don't blame me!" Martha replied smoothly, sounding as though she had not expected her sister to be found in the closet. "They're Mrs. Fairfax's things, and I normally don't use it. There's more than enough space for my things in the drawers."

Sophie, meanwhile, was, despite her discomfort, very happy indeed with the turn of events. Enough things had fallen on her to mostly obscure her self from the vision of others, and if things went her way, Fanny could leave without ever knowing she was there.

"Are you satisfied now?" Martha then said coolly.

There was a pause. "I suppose so. _Do _let me know if you've heard from her, love."

"Of course, Mother," Martha replied cheerfully, ever the dutiful daughter. "Just as soon as Mrs. Fairfax decides to take a vow of silence."

"There's no need to be so rude, Martha."

"Yes there is, Mother. Goodbye."

There was a series of hasty footsteps, and the door was then shut forcefully. Sophie then heard Martha quickly walk further away, presumably to the window. "Hold on a moment, Sophie," Martha said quietly.

They waited for several moments, and then Martha declared it safe. Sophie crawled out from the boxes, watching as Martha gazed through the window. "There she goes over the hill," the latter said. "You won't have to worry about her for a while."

Martha then turned to face Sophie, but she suddenly stopped. "S-Sophie, what happened?"

"I cast a spell," she said rather proudly, although she quickly tried to dismantle it as she realized what a spectacle she must be, with a floating head and hands.

"That's right; you're a witch now," Martha said absently, watching with relief as the rest of Sophie appeared. "Anyway, doesn't she sound so strange? And did you hear what she asked me before she opened the closet door? 'Are you quite honest?'" Martha mimicked, her voice sounding ridiculous.

But, ridiculous-sounding or not, it was enough. The line brought forth the memory of that fateful encounter.

She had kept wondering where on earth she had heard that voice.

It had escaped her because it was not on this earth--it was in Wales.

A horrified sort of sound, almost like a strangle, came from Sophie's throat. She quickly alternated between glancing out the window and looking at Martha, asking, "Are you all right? Did she hurt you? Did she seem to cast a spell on anything?"

"What? Why, no. What are you talking about?"

Sophie's fear was contagious, and it spread to Martha's gray eyes. The former said gravely, after quickly hugging her sister--her dear, poor, clever, wonderful, stubborn sister--tightly, "Let's go get Mrs. Fairfax. I think she should know as well."

They nearly tripped as they raced to living room, where Mrs. Fairfax was just getting settled. The woman's eyes lit up, and she cried, "Oh, Sophie! I'm so pleased to see you're well! Everyone's been worried sick--"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I must let you know some terrible news," Sophie said grimly. "Fa--oh, hello, Lettie."

There was the second sister, standing across from Mrs. Fairfax, staring at Sophie. As Lettie tried to determine whether to be happy or irritated (both for the fact that Sophie had disappeared without letting her know, as well as her visiting Martha before herself), Sophie ran up to her, kissed her on the cheek, tried to hear about Lettie's encounters with Fanny, and then stood in the center of the room.

After giving a swift but clear explanation about what had happened since she left, Sophie then recounted her indirect encounter with the Fanny impersonator. "Unfortunately, I am almost completely certain that she was Miss Angorian, the woman who had appeared with the Witch of the Waste in Wales," Sophie finished. "I'm not quite sure how Miss Angorian and the Witch know each other, but I believe it safe to say that they're accomplices."

"Oh, good heavens! It's a relief all those magic objects fell on you, Sophie; if Miss Angorian is on the same level magically as the Witch, she would have certainly noticed your magic's presence, especially after you cast the spell. All the magic items must have concealed it," Mrs. Fairfax declared, relief in her voice.

Lettie, Sophie, and Martha were now sitting together on the couch, shoulders touching, and holding each other's hands. "I thought she would just go after Howl," Sophie murmured. "She was Howl's nephew's schoolteacher, too. But now..."

"I don't mean to offend you, Sophie," Lettie said carefully, "but I think in the big picture, you're not very important. So I don't think you pose much of a threat to her. Perhaps...she wants to attack Howl on this side as well?"

Martha nodded, but Sophie asked what she meant.

"Well, if she's keeping an eye on Howl's family, that means she's trying to attack him psychologically, I think," Martha said.

"And you think I'm dear enough to Howl that she'll try to kill me?" Sophie asked, incredulous.

"He did save you a few times," Lettie pointed out.

Martha's eyes lost a bit of their gravity as she added, "_And _he said, 'I'm thinking I just might fall in love with you next'."

Lettie gaped at Sophie. "I'm sorry, but..._what?_"

The eldest sister sighed and briefly related the story.

"I forbid it!" Lettie cried. "A nasty person like him--"

"Oh, he's not that bad," Sophie reluctantly admitted as Mrs. Fairfax cried, "That's all just talk. He seemed like a very good boy when I met him a few years ago."

The sisters turned to Mrs. Fairfax. "You _knew _him?"

"Yes; Mr. Fairfax used to take me to Kingsbury to see a show, and we always used to visit Mrs. Pentstemmon--she was my old tutor, you know." The mention brought tears to her eyes, now that she had heard the terrible news that the woman was dead, and killed in front of Sophie's eyes, no less. "Mrs. Pentstemmon once showed us her student, Howl, and said he had twice the potential many of her other students possessed. Well, he seemed like a good young man, and when the rumors of Horrible Howl first began circulating, I thought to myself, 'Why, I wouldn't be surprised if that was Mrs. Pentstemmon's young student. He sounded like he had the magic to move a castle around the countryside.' I don't believe the bit about him capturing hearts in the literal sense, though. That's a lot of nonsense. But you could do much worse, Sophie."

Sophie wondered how this became a discussion about her nonexistent love life when Lettie reminded her.

"From what you've said, if he doesn't love you in a romantic sense, he at least cares about you as a friend."

"And Michael seems to think Howl has real feelings for you, Sophie," Martha piped up. "He said he doesn't treat you the way he treats other girls. But Michael did say that the moment he saw Howl not keeping up a stately appearance would be the moment he believed Howl was truly in love."

"Well, that hasn't happened yet, then," Sophie said dryly. But all this talk about Howl did bring about one useful thought. "I don't care too much about why the Witch wants me, but since she does, I'll have to defend myself. I think I'll ask Howl to teach me magic. It'd be helpful to not just guess when I'm trying to cast a spell and wonder if it worked."

"That's a good idea," Mrs. Fairfax said with a smile, which then faded as she wondered aloud, "but what happened to Fanny?"

The implications and possibilities were too frightening to consider for long. "She's probably alright. She didn't know magic, so the Witch might have just whisked her away somewhere instead of wasting magic on h-hurting her," Sophie said as the images of Mrs. Pentstemmon's death once again appeared unbidden in her mind.

The other three nodded and declared their agreement, desperate to believe it.

"I'm going to work hard too," Martha announced. "Mrs. Fairfax, could you work on teaching me defense and attack magic?"

"Well, I suppose, although I'm not the most knowledgeable with that sort of magic. Few spells of that sort result from honey potions--"

"Then we'll learn together. You might be in danger, too."

Lettie stood, determination burning in her eyes. "I'll learn with you."

"But what about Cesari's?" Martha asked.

"Never mind that. I could always make us something to eat here to practice. It'll give me a break, too. The, er, customers can be very demanding." It was silently acknowledged that the customers were mostly male. "That is, if it's alright with you, Mrs. Fairfax."

"I'll write them and let them know--"

"Thank you! And you must promise to visit when you can, Sophie, if you think it safe enough."

Sophie smiled, and she felt, despite how much more advanced the Witch's magic was, that they might give the fiend a run for her money.


	17. In Which We Return to the Contract

**Prettyinpinkgal: Thanks to my wonderful beta Random Romantasist 999, here's Chapter Fifteen! I feel like this is more of a filler chapter, although some important events do occur. NaNoWriMo went really well and I met the goal, but after that my brain became infected with that terrible virus known as Writer's Block, which is why it took me so bloody long to get back to fanfiction. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a wonderful 2010!**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my good friend Xanthe Z. Young, who not only sends me fun emails and fantastically long reviews, but also keeps me motivated with this story. Thank you so much, Xanthe! This would be the "thank you" I mentioned in my email, but remember, my other offers are still open!  
**

**Note: Saint Valentina's Day is not a misspelling. I figured Saint Valentine couldn't have existed in both Ingary's world and our world, so just as England's version in Ingary's world is, well, Ingary, I figured people could have their versions in different worlds too. I imagine Valentina was a sort of Jeanne d'Arc in Ingary several centuries ago, in that she was a heroine in a time when women were not very respected. The story I concocted is that Valentina was the widowed queen of Ingary, and was deeply in love with the ruler of the Sultanate (when it was singular) of Rashpuht. However, her ally and his ally went to war, so they were forced to fight each other. She ordered that her teenage son would succeed her, and she went to battle alone. It was tradition that if the ruler of a country perished in battle and it was only in a war as an ally, the deceased's successor would be allowed to pull out of the war. Valentina rode to battle alone and allowed herself to be killed so her son might save their people and she would not have to take up her sword against her beloved. Ingary viewed her as a saint, and created Saint Valentina's Day in her honor.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HMC. Mr. Suliman is my own creation, however.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: IN WHICH WE RETURN TO HOWL AND CALCIFER'S CONTRACT  
**

Sophie returned to the castle an hour later. Howl was busy teaching Michael some spell, but he still looked up quickly to throw a quick smile at her. She found herself responding with a small smile of her own, but it soon disappeared as she closed the door behind her. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to the spell.

"It's a listening spell," Michael replied absently, trying to figure out why it kept bursting into flames every time he thought he had it. Perhaps he wasn't as vain as Howl, but it was annoying that he had singed his sleeves three times now. Michael then looked up in surprise. "Oh, hello! When did you get back?"

"Just now. What do you have to do?" She sat down next to Michael.

Howl read off the list, and then he and his apprentice went back to work. "Think about it, Michael," he explained. "You want to hear sounds _outside _this space, right?" He gestured to show that "this space" was the area a few feet from the table. "So if the powder should be on the 'outside' of the rest of the spell, right? So you should put it in on top."

"Oooh," said Michael, although some confusion was still in his eyes. He shoved the dud aside, then used the open space to perform the spell again. This time, it worked properly. The sounds of whistles, talking, and horses' hooves on dirt roads then trickled into the castle. "Finally!" Michael exclaimed in relief.

"Now, I can focus on you, my dear Sophie," Howl said charmingly, leaning slightly to get a better look at her face.

"No, thank you," she said dryly.

He let out a long-suffering sigh. "Cold as usual. Then what is it you need?"

Sophie replied, "I'm trying to learn something. Why else would I pay attention to your magic lesson when I could be cleaning or watching another one of those 'films'?"

Michael turned to Sophie. "You want to learn magic, too?"

She nodded. "Martha and Lettie are learning under Mrs. Fairfax now, so I figured I might as well learn with you. We've decided to do what we can to fight the Witch." Sophie gave the condensed version of what occurred at Mrs. Fairfax's.

When she finished, Howl swore and Michael cried, "Martha's alright though, isn't she? She wasn't cursed? I-I mean, of course I'm worried about you, and Lettie, too, but--!"

"I understand," Sophie said, a bit amused. "No, she seems fine. She's the one who first suspected something was different about Fanny. Howl, what do you think happened to the real Fanny?"

He looked at her. Although she had tried to make herself calm as she traveled the ten miles back to the castle, she could tell that her facade was not fooling him.

"It's hard to say," he finally replied calmly. "It really all depends on the Witch's mood."

"Howl!" Michael cried, distraught by Howl's uncaring tone.

Calcifer shifted suddenly. "Watch it, Howl!"

The wizard smiled slightly. "Sorry. I'll be more careful."

Sophie watched this exchange with curiosity in her eyes, trying to distract herself from the possible terrible things which Fanny might have gone through, or perhaps was still go through. "What happened?" she asked, trying to brush away her negative thoughts.

Calcifer righted himself. "_It_ sank," he explained, looking at her meaningfully.

Sophie was desperate to grasp onto anything besides the present circumstances, and therefore paid more attention to this little comment. "Do you mean the heart you supposedly have?" she asked, cracking a smile.

"That's right." He shifted again, this time less obviously, and Sophie could see something beneath him. She abandoned her chair and knelt down by the hearth. Calcifer was apparently connected to a black, rounded lump. It took her a moment to recognize what it is.

"Michael, get over here!" she cried, her voice embarrassingly high-pitched.

He was soon by her side, inspecting the lump. "Tha-that really _is _a heart, isn't it?" he asked her.

"That's what I thought," Sophie replied morosely, feeling disgusted. She had seen a picture of a real heart--she remembered being surprised how different it was from the sort seen on Saint Valentina's Day--in an anatomy book she had flipped through while she waited for her sisters to decide which books they wanted to borrow from the library. This looked much darker than the illustration, and it was difficult to see it clearly with Calcifer's flames dancing above it, but she was fairly certain that it was indeed a heart.

"I told you so," Calcifer said. "You should take what I say seriously. It might be a hint."

_Well, _Sophie thought, feeding Calcifer a log and going back to her chair, _at least that's progress in figuring out Calcifer and Howl's contract._ She glanced at Howl and found that he had carefully turned his eyes, if not his attention, to a sheet of paper, on which he was busily writing.

She recalled what Calcifer had said the night before the fateful visits. "We share the same heart, after all." And Howl had later said, "No heart, remember?"

Could it be that Howl was honestly lacking a physical heart? But that was impossible; how could he be walking around and flirting with everyone in a skirt if he had no heart? But then, Sophie allowed, magic could make the impossible possible. But if the heart really belonged to Howl, how did it get there? Why would they make such a contract? For what purpose did Calcifer need a heart?

Well, she certainly wouldn't be able to ask the two in question about their contract--it seemed that only worked if she was specific enough. Perhaps, if she deemed it safe, she could visit a bookshop and look in the magic section. Or perhaps she could visit Mrs. Fairfax again.

"Anyway, enough about this," Howl said after a while, as if he had intentionally given her some time to reflect upon the subject. "Sophie, I don't know very much about your sort of magic. You see, magic in everyone is, at its root, the same, and everyone who has magical abilities can work the same mainstream spells. However, some people, like you, can also cast spells in a unique way. I don't share your gift for talking life into things, so I can't teach you much about that. I'll do some research though; there must be documents about that kind of magic. In the meantime, I'll teach you more mainstream spells."

Sophie nodded. "Thank you. Don't worry about getting the documents; they should be at the library, right?"

"Probably at the city library at Kingsbury."

"Then I'll get it myself when it's safe. I have some other things I'd like to look into myself."

Howl said pleasantly, "You could probably go now, I'm sure. The Witch probably used up a lot of magic over the past few days; she'll need time to recover."

"Alright, then I'll be back before supper."

Michael asked, "Should I go with you?"

"If you'd like. I'd probably get lost on my own, anyway."

* * *

Calcifer and Howl watched as they walked to the door, and the wizard let out a sigh of relief once the door closed.

"Your heart was acting funny," Calcifer informed him. "What happened?"

Howl sighed again, but this time it made him sound miserable. "Nothing happened. That's just it. I hadn't managed to win her over, and I decided to give her up. But I'm still thinking about her! And just now, I wanted to go to the library with her!"

Calcifer cackled. "So _that's _why you sent her out so quick; you were caving in!"

"Oh, shut up," Howl grumbled. He stood and walked to the sink, beginning a restless pace. "The Witch is desperate if she's taking the trouble to create two disguises for her fire demon. Much more desperate than I had anticipated. This isn't good."

"Was it good to begin with?" retorted Calcifer.

"True enough," Howl smiled darkly. "If I thought it'd protect the Hatters, I would send Sophie away--Michael too, if the Witch started setting her sights on him. But she would only hold someone captive and wait for me to fetch them and probably finish all of us off."

Calcifer agreed. "So, do you think Sophie's stepmother is alive?"

"It's just as I said earlier: It depends on the Witch's mood. I can't imagine the Witch holding her captive for long, though. Quite honestly, I don't have much hope."

"Neither do I," Calcifer replied. "But we'd better not say anything until we know for certain."

Howl nodded. Heading over to the cupboard, he discovered, to his pleasant surprise, that there was a bottle of whiskey there. "Bless Michael! He must have gone out early this morning." He grabbed the bottle and promptly began pouring himself a glass.

* * *

It was much cooler than yesterday in Kingsbury, which was a welcome relief. After asking three different people where the library was, and ending up hopelessly lost twice, they at last spotted the grand building.

"They need better signs," said Sophie with a huff. Michael adamantly agreed.

They decided to cut the work in half. Michael would look for books on Sophie's gift, and she would look up "some other thing". She decided Calcifer's contract with Howl was not something she should talk about with Michael, not until those two told him themselves.

The Kingsbury Library lived up to its expectations. Surely one could find whatever they were looking for in its massive stock. The problem was finding it, especially when one had no clue what it was exactly that they were looking for. Sophie figured she could ask a librarian, but her pride wouldn't allow it. If she was wrong about Calcifer's heart, it would be rather embarrassing.

An older gentleman bumped into Sophie. "Oh, do excuse me," he said, and she smiled and nodded. He stood near her as he muttered something under his breath and a book floated down near him. For him to do it so quickly and easily suggested he was quite a magic user, and his age hinted that he might be rather wise regarding magic as well.

"Um, may I ask how long you have been studying magic?" she asked, feeling her old shyness kicking in a bit.

He turned his amiable gray eyes towards her. "For about forty years."

"Then perhaps you could help me, if you don't mind. I, um, read in a book about a fire creature who made a contract with a human. Is that possible?"

"Goodness. It sounds like a rather dark book," he said, frowning.

"I suppose so. I haven't finished it yet. But is it possible?"

"Oh, yes. Do you have some other questions?"

Sophie smiled slightly. "Well, yes."

The gentleman led her to a table and the two had a seat. "I'm Richard Suliman, by the way."

"Please excuse me!" she exclaimed, embarrassed by her lack of manners. "I'm Sophie Hatter."

"I suppose you would like to know how such a contract could come about?"

"Yes, sir."

He rubbed his beard-covered chin. "Well, it's quite fascinating, really. Do you know why a falling star falls?"

Sophie shook her head.

"It's because the earth is its deathbed; stars, which are really fire demons, fall when it is time to die. If someone catches a falling star, he can save it from death by giving it his heart. It's a magical exchange, of course, so if gone about properly, that person can continue living almost as usual."

" 'Almost?' "

"From what I've read, the person is disconnected not only from his physical heart, but his emotional heart. The two are intertwined, you know. So this person often has no heart to regulate his emotions, or he may not feel any emotions at all. Those are the most common, but also the most extreme cases. It really depends on how the person was before the contract."

Sophie took some mental notes and thanked him heartily for all his help. "One last question: Do you happen to know how to break the contract?"

"That, I'm afraid, is something I can't help you with. I'm terribly sorry."

"Not at all, you've been a great help!"

"Now perhaps you could help me," Mr. Suliman said, his eyes becoming grave and dark with worry. "Have you heard of my son, Wizard Suliman?"

Sophie started. "Why, yes, I think I have. He's rumored to be a great magician. Wasn't the king himself considering hiring him as a Royal Wizard?"

Mr. Suliman seemed to beam with pride. "In this case, Miss Hatter, the rumors are indeed true. However, perhaps you have also heard of his disappearance?"

Sophie shook her head. "No, I haven't. I'm from Market Chipping; it usually takes a while for news from Kingsbury to reach us. I'm terribly sorry."

"As am I," he said with a sigh. "I suppose it's hopeless to ask you if you've seen him?" He gave a quick description, but in vain. Sophie replied unhappily that she had not had the good fortune of spotting him.

"I'm terribly worried. With the Witch on the prowl, perhaps she attacked Ben? He was even getting customers from other countries; perhaps she felt she had competition? That's why I'm borrowing this," Mr. Suliman said, showing the book he had taken from the shelf. "It's about more complex finding spells, something I haven't focused on in my years of studying. That's another problem of mine: I'm only good for _studying_. My actual spells are usually less effective than they should be. I don't have much of an aptitude for magic, I suppose. My son Ben, though--now _he _is the real wizard. He has the brains _and _the ability."

Despite how sorry she felt for Mr. Suliman, she couldn't help but smile here. He was such a doting father, and far too modest. "I will be sure to keep an eye out for him."

Mr. Suliman took her hand in his and squeezed it. "Thank you so much, Miss Hatter. I appreciate it."

Michael then chose that moment to appear, an alarmingly high stack of books in his hands. "--yes!" he cried as he sat the books onto the tabletop. He was then shushed by a librarian who was passing by. "Sorry," he whispered to her, and then turned to Sophie. "I found fifteen volumes on your sort of magic. It's a bother that I haven't learned a levitation spell yet. Oh, was I interrupting something?" He evidently had just taken notice of Mr. Suliman.

"No, no, I was just leaving. Take care, Miss Hatter," he said with a smile, nodding briefly at Michael before walking off.

The boy asked the gentleman's identity, and Sophie explained. "I think Howl's been working on trying to find Wizard Suliman, although he won't admit it," Michael said.

"Really? Well, that sounds like something Howl would do. He can be rather nice in his own way."

Michael gave her a look.

"What?" she demanded.

"Sophie, don't kill me for asking this, but are you starting to like Howl?"

She stared at him. He unconsciously stepped back.

Sophie reached for the first book in the pile, flipping through it. "Michael?" she asked sweetly. "Which would you rather be: a newt, or a toad?"

This was the last bit of humor Sophie had for quite some time, however. It took them nearly an hour to return to the castle; while this time they had little difficulty finding their way, they had to wait a dreadfully long time to check out the books, but when they did finally arrive at the castle, Sophie immediately began researching. Howl read a few of the books himself so he could give another opinion on how to better control her magic.

In a nutshell, she needed to block out distractions, not allow her emotions to rule her, mean every word she said, and treat an object as if it were already alive. Howl had snickered rudely at the second point, but Sophie happily got back at him by making some tea "accidentally" spill on his suit. He had pointed out that it would only result in her having a hard time getting the stain out, but she retorted that he would be doing his own laundry. Michael, after seeing this heated exchange, no longer believed there was any possibility of Sophie liking Howl, and, judging by how they were now presently fighting like cats and dogs, he realized that she probably truly had considered turning him into a toad.

And so, for the next week, the days were occupied in the following way: After breakfast, Howl would teach Michael and Sophie mainstream magic. Sophie, being older and, truth be told, having more of a clever mind than Michael, would often figure out the spells first. Howl would then focus on helping Sophie with her particular kind of magic while Michael ran the shop. Howl found himself being more lighthearted than usual, not daring to let Sophie know what an effect she had on him. Sophie, meanwhile, was her usual self, save for the moments when she realized that Howl, despite being a flirtatious narcissist, was extremely intelligent, and he did have a rather nice smile.

Before the occupants of the house had realized it, only a week had passed and Sophie felt as though she had learned quite a lot. She was now able to command small objects with relatively little trouble, and she had learned how to make not only a listening spell, but also how to tell when someone is using a listening spell on you, as well as how to create an enlargement spell. With immense gratification, she found she could now command the plates to set themselves on the table, and she had only one embarrassing mishap with that.

On the other hand, before the occupants of the house had realized it, an entire week had passed, which meant that today was the day Howl went to Wales to fetch Mari and Neil.


	18. In Which the Castle Gains Two Occupants

**Prettyinpinkgal: Well, I finally got my days off from school. We had off Monday, and then I got sick and have been home since. I'd actually like to go to school tomorrow (Friday), since I probably have a ton of homework and I want to see my friends, but we'll see. In other news, I finished my second novel! Yay! This one I'm not giving up on. I have to edit it a ton, probably, but I'll start that again once I feel better.**

**Anyway, enough about little ol' me. Enjoy the story! I swear, the next chapter will pick up, in case you're getting bored. XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HMC.**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: IN WHICH THE CASTLE TEMPORARILY GAINS TWO NEW OCCUPANTS**

"Sophie, put the spell ingredients in a cupboard somewhere!" Howl commanded as he shoved several papers into a drawer. "Hopefully they won't be nosy like a certain other person living here--"

"My question is," Sophie returned as she bolted upstairs to see if the spare room Howl had added only a few hours ago had the beds already made, "why didn't you make these preparations ahead of time? And why are they coming here anyway? I'm sure you could have slithered out of it if you really wanted to! Furthermore, why didn't you make a spare room for me?! I've been sleeping in that tiny cubby when you--!"

"Because, Miss Nose," called Howl angrily, kicking a box out of the way, "I was too busy helping _you _and worrying about the Witch to bother thinking about it! And you're much more heartless than I gave you credit for, Sophie; how could I turn down Megan's request? She barely let me _near _the children before; she must be really upset if she'd do something as extreme as letting me take care of them. As for your room, I honestly didn't think you'd stay long enough to need one. Most women wouldn't."

"I'll say," Sophie retorted, coming back downstairs when her inspection was complete. "Who would want to deal with you on a daily basis?"

"You wound me, Sophie!" he whined, although it sounded much less pathetic than he would have liked. He was too busy carrying a heavy stack of books to his room to properly instill pity into anyone.

Michael called from the bathroom, "When do you have to leave?" as he dressed up in the clothes Howl had conjured for him; the latter had been too distracted to actually switch Michael's everyday clothes with the, as Sophie dubbed it,"Wales-style" outfit.

"In about..." Howl paused to check his watch. "Five minutes. Blast! Sophie, are you ready yet?"

She glared at him. "I've been ready! You're the one who has to change!"

Howl quickly changed magically, then surveyed the room. "It'll have to do," he said finally with a nod, just as Michael came down the steps, looking very awkward in those things that were apparently called "jeans".

"You'll get used to them," Howl told him, then he pulled Sophie along as they left for that mysterious land named Wales.

They had barely pressed that strange button by the door that Megan appeared, looking frazzled. "Where the devil have you been?!" she demanded. "I'll miss my--Oh, hello, Sophie. Come on in. _Neil! Mari!_"

The children appeared quickly, knowing that now was no time to stall if they wanted to live. Mari wore what Howl later explained was a backpack, and Neil looked like he was going to pass out from carrying so many strange boxes.

"I'll take the suitcases, Neil," Howl said jovially, reaching out to help out his nephew.

The latter, however, brushed passed him and more wheezed than growled, "I've got it." Sophie could have sworn Neil looked anxiously at her as he added, "I'm not some kid."

Apparently, Howl noticed it as well, for he wrapped an arm with what Sophie believed to be fake affection. "Well, you have a good trip," he said jovially to his sister. "Have you had any...difficulties, since we saw you last?"

"Mari, go outside with your brother." Once the girl had reluctantly done so, Megan sighed. "Gareth's been staying with a friend. He returned only once, several hours after The Incident, and it resulted in us having an even bigger fight and him leaving with all his clothes. I don't think he's ever coming back."

Sophie barely knew Megan, but despite their uncomfortable first meeting, she felt a sort of kinship with her. So when she heard this disheartening news, which would be highly scandelous in Ingary, she felt sorry for the exhausted woman. Obviously, her issues with Gareth had existed long before The Incident if things were so grave.

However, Megan's eyes then lightened up slightly. "His loss, I suppose. If we do get a divorce, he'll still give us some money to support us. Anyway--oh, no!" she cried, looking at the clock. "I have to get going! Make sure you take good care of them! I'll see you in two weeks!"

She practically pushed Sophie and Howl out the door, locking it behind her. Dashing towards her children, she kissed and hugged them both--to Neil's chagrin--and hopped into her car and drove away. Howl and Sophie stared after her a moment, then looked at each other and shrugged.

"Any idea how you're going to pull this off?" Sophie whispered as the kids got into Howl's beastly car.

"Not really," Howl replied with a sigh. "But there are worse things than my family finding out about Ingary. Come on, Miss Nose. I've got how we're going to get home figured out, at least."

"Does it involve getting in that thing?" she inquired, pointing at the fiendish metalic creature.

Howl laughed. "Unfortunately for you, it does. Come on, come on. Time to go. I won't let it hurt you."

Sophie rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "My hero."

She soon found out exactly what his plan was. He wanted to keep the existance of magic a secret for as long as possible. Thus, he drove for a terribly long time and returned the car to Rivendell only when the children had fallen asleep due to utter boredom. Sophie suspected that he had put some sort of spell on the car, for none of the neighbors seemed to notice their return. "We're here," Howl whispered, waking the children up and grabbing the bags.

"Where the heck are we?" Neil asked, yawning as he stumbled out of the car. "This place sort of looks like our house."

"Funny, isn't it?" Howl said. He opened the door to Ingary, and, as it was terribly dark outside, Neil did not notice the inky blackness which seemed so peculiar. Sophie, holding a still-sleeping Mari, followed, and then Howl came in and shut the door.

Neil winced at the sudden brightness of the castle. "How'd the fire appear so fast? Oh, never mind. What time is it?"

"Nearly eleven. I'll show you where your room is."

Mari stirred slowly in Sophie's arms. "Neeeil," she drawled.

"What?" he demanded, none too kindly.

"Do you think Mother is in France yet?"

"How should I know? Come on, it's time for bed. Night," he said to Sophie, following his uncle up the steps.

Once making sure that Mari and Neil were safely out of earshot, Sophie sunk into a chair. "I just know this is going to be a disaster," she sighed to Calcifer, who was starting to show his face. "Just riding in that blasted 'car' thing was enough. Where is Michael?"

"He went to bed. I agree, though. Why do I have to hide myself for two whole weeks? That's not fair at all!"

Sophie perked up a bit. "By the way, Calcifer, there's something I've been meaning to ask you. Were you once a falling star?"

Calcifer's flames flared a bit as he began to grin. "That's right."

"And you have a real heart?"

Sophie was pretty sure he was nodding vigorously.

"But that heart is not really yours."

"That's right. Do you know whose heart it is?"

"Howl's, am I right?" she asked.

"Yes, you are!" Calcifer cheered, flaring even more. "Howl caught me and knew I didn't want to die. He gave me his heart to keep me alive, and we're tied together because of it. If he dies, I die. If I die, he dies. So don't even think about pouring water on me."

Sophie rose a brow. "But I don't even like Howl, so why should it matter?"

Calcifer cringed. "I think you're the heartless one!"

"It was a joke! Honestly. Now, this whole heart business is your contract, right? How do I break it?"

She watched in disappointment as Calcifer's flames became more subdued. "I still can't tell you that. I'll try giving more hints, though."

She nodded. "Alright, then. At least it's progress. Goodnight." Passing him a log, she went into her cubby, snuggled up in the blanket, and fell asleep despite her whirling thoughts.

* * *

The next morning, she awoke to hear Mari crying. "Neil took my toy, Uncle Howell!"

"Neil, give it back."

"She's the one who wouldn't shut up!"

Sophie groaned, pulling her pillow over her head. She had a nasty headache this morning. "Curtain," she whispered, turning to the thin cloth which seperated her cubby from the rest of the room, "become soundproof. Take all that yelling and keep it from reaching my ears."

Slowly, the yelling seemed to turn down in volume. Before long, there was complete silence, and Sophie sighed with relief as she tried to go back to th sleep, her head pounding.

Before she could, however, she yelped in surprise as two small hands began pushing on her back.

"Sophie, Sophie, Neil's being mean!" Mari cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

Howl drew back the curtain, his words suddenly coming in loud and clear. "Cariad, don't wake up Soph--oh, you're awake. You'll help me with this, won't you?"

Sophie whispered to the curtain, "Thanks anyway, curtain. You don't have to block the sounds out anymore." As Howl took Mari out of the cubby, Sophie slowly got up, wincing at the light that was now streaming into her small room.

"I'll be right there. Let me get changed first." After a quick stop at the bathroom--which, she thought irritably, Howl would never be able to pull off--she came back, watching as Howl struggled with being the responsible adult and the friend. "Alright, you two," she said sourly, "let's see if I have this right: Mari, you're upset because Neil stole your toy, and Neil, you stole it because Mari was being loud?"

"Right!" the siblings replied, glaring at each other.

"Neil, give the toy back. Mari, use your inside voice."

If it had been Howl saying this, the siblings might have put up more of a fight, but as it was a near-stranger, they grumbled, "Fine" and did as they were told. Besides, Sophie had a no-nonsense air about her today, something she had used often when dealing with her own sisters.

Michael, who was sitting at the table, watching the spectacle after sending Howl a "leave me out of this!" look, turned to her in surprise. "Sophie, are you feeling alright? You seem a bit different today."

"I have a bit of a headache, that's all. So if you two could please stop yelling, that would be very nice," she said with a strained smile to the children, who now felt a bit guilty.

"Here's some medicine," Howl said, handing her a small pill and a glass of water. "Sorry for all the noise."

Sophie and Michael gaped at him.

"What?" he asked, sounding suspicious.

"You apologized. You came right out and apologized! You never do that!" Michael exclaimed, which made Neil snicker; it was rather ridiculous how right Michael was.

"I've apologized before!"

"I don't remember it," Sophie retorted, swallowing the pill with a gulp of her water. She had to admit, she was a bit flattered. Howl's possibly-first apology was to _her_, of all people! She smiled slightly and said, "I appreciate it, though. Thank you, Howl."

Calcifer yelped, possibly due to the lump beneath him, as Howl cleared his throat. "Well, you're welcome. Don't expect it to become a habit, though."

"Trust me, I long ago lowered my standards when it came to you."

Mari apparently had Howl's need for attention in her genes, for she stomped her foot unhappily. "I'm bored! Where's the telly? Uncle Howell, why aren't there any real lights here? Why won't you let us go outside?"

"I'm afraid we don't live in a very good part of town. It's not good for children to play outside here." That was partially true; the Porthaven and Kingsbury entrances were quite busy and not very safe for children not accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the city. "I'll bring the telly downstairs. How would you like that, cariad?"

"A lot!" she cried, looking much happier. Even Neil smiled a little in relief, not that Sophie could blame him; the castle must be a dreadfully boring place for people used to magic windows.

So Mari watched a few films, which Howl conjured for her, and Neil occasionally glanced at the screen while he played another video game, this time on what he called a GameBoy. Mari also helped Sophie cook lunch, and Neil continued to play his game.

However, the day was long, and children can only be happy with staying inside with little to do for so long. It was also aggravating to hear people knock on the door, and then Howl would sneak outside to deal with the customer, closing the door firmly behind him. Neil had looked through a window once, but said that he must be imagining things; no one used such old-fashioned things like horses and carriages anymore. He told Sophie, "I'm probably just out of it. Nothing a little Pokemon can't cure."

Still, despite how relatively at ease the children were, Sophie was sure they were missing their parents and knew that something was very, very wrong. Neil was old enough to suspect that his parents' marriage was in turmoil, and Mari was aware enough to think that "he wasn't friends with Mother right now".

To have some sort of conversation, Sophie said, "You really love these video games, don't you, Neil?"

"Oh, yeah. I want to be a programmer when I grow up."

_A programmer? _She supposed they made the peculiar interactive films.

"_No!_" cried Neil, startling Sophie out of her thoughts. She and Mari turned to look at him as he kept waving his GameBoy around, looking frantic. "Nononononono!"

"What's wrong, Neil?" Michael asked, looking over the lad's shoulder.

"My GameBoy died! Where's my charger...crap! I forgot it! I have to be here for two f--"

"Neil!" Sophie snapped, glancing meaningfully at his little sister, who was watching the scene with great interest.

He looked back at her and scowled, in no mood to try and seem mature about the whole matter. Video games were more important than girls any day. "Fine. I have to be here for two _bloody _weeks with no _bloody _video games and I can't even _bloody _go outside!"

"There are other things to do besides those video games, Neil," Michael said, believing that, as he was the boy's senior by two years, he would be able to help in some way.

Neil snorted. "Like what? Clean?"

"What's wrong with that?" Sophie grumbled. She glanced at the door, wishing Howl would just send the customer on his merry way and come back inside.

The rest of the day stayed miserable. Neil barely spoke, and when he did, it was most unpleasant. As for Mari, she was rather quiet the rest of the day. Sophie tried her best to cheer them both up, but she could only do so much. Howl had slightly better luck with Mari, but Neil became more unhappy when Howl spoke to him.

Finally, after dinner, Neil went upstairs to go to bed early. Mari, probably knowing full well that she'd only be bored if she stayed up, did the same, saying that she didn't want to be tucked in.

"What am I doing wrong here, Sophie?" Howl whined, but she could tell he was truly worried about it.

"I don't think it's _you_, exactly," she replied thoughtfully. "They're probably just confused about everything going between Megan and Gareth. And I must admit, there's very little to keep them occupied here in the castle, with the exception of magic."

"And I'd rather they not know about _that_," Howl replied.

Michael finished the last of the corn and said, "I saw a board game in Peterson's today. That might keep them occupied."

"Neil hates being treated like a little kid above all else," Howl said, sighing. "Mari might be interested, but not Neil. Why on earth did I agree to this?"

"Howl, you're not the one who's suffering," Sophie replied, becoming a little irked at his behavior. "Can't you just tell them about this world?"

He groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I don't want them involved in this."

"Fine! Just don't whine about it later!" With that, Sophie stood and went to bed in a huff, feeling like her headache was coming back.

Unfortunately, she didn't get much sleep, for she kept tossing and turning and thinking about her own stepmother, who was Lord knows where, possibly even...dead. The horrible concept hit Sophie, and when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of funerals, murders, and sinister witches.

* * *

"...phie. Sophie!"

With difficulty, Sophie opened her weary eyes and spotted Michael, who looked highly embarrassed to be in a lady's "room".

"What do you want?" she groaned, drying her eyes when she found them filled with tears. _I must really be exhausted, or perhaps stress is the reason,_ she thought; _everyone's been getting up before me lately!_

"Well, Howl asked me last night to watch over Neil and Mari, since he had to go out today, but I think they've found some of the spell books!"

This made Sophie completely wake up. "What? Then why are you talking to me?! Go stop them!"

"I _tried_! But they must be geniuses or something, because look!" He held up his hands...or lack thereof. They were still technically there, but his arms had shrunk to the size of a baby's and were barely visible under his sleeves. "Please do something!"

As soon as Michael finished his plea, they heard Calcifer yell, "Hey, you two! Sophie, you better get out here!"

This exclamation was promptly followed with a, "Neil, look at this!" and, "I can't believe magic actually exists!"

_Oh, dear_, she thought, getting out of bed. _This should be interesting._


	19. In Which There are Mistakes and Success

**Prettyinpinkgal: Guess what everyone? I've finished editing my novel! So right now I'm having my parents read it, just to see what they say. I know, parents aren't exactly the best critics, but I just want to double-check that there's nothing blatantly out of place or anything. After that, I think I'll get my proof copy, and then I'll start selling it on Amazon! I'm so excited! So excited, in fact, that I can't seem to stop writing, which is why I have this little chapter for you. And I mean little! It just seemed a rather good place to stop. Just to warn you, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm in love with cliffhangers. I can't escape them, especially since my novel has no plot and this one does, so I seem to throw it in every second I get. I'm sorry; I'm sure you readers get sick of it. -.- I just can't seem to help myself. Thanks again to my beta, Random Romantasist 999.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HMC. Nor do I own the little "Doctor Who" reference in here. Yes, I've started watching that show. I've seen four episodes so far, and the timey-wimey quote is just great, so I had to throw it in there. ;)**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: IN WHICH THERE ARE SEVERAL MAGICAL MISTAKES...AND AN UNFORTUNATE SUCCESS**

Sophie put on her best eldest-sister face and rolled up the sleeves of her nightgown. She pushed Michael aside as she left her cubby, and he sighed in frustration when he found he could not reach to right himself.

"May I ask what you two are doing?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at the two troublemakers. She would not look at the room; she refused to be distracted. Besides, if she looked away for a moment, they very well could cause themselves to disappear.

Neil and Mari looked at her a bit nervously. Their hair was disheveled, and Mari's hairstyle seemed peculiar. Rather, it seemed much longer than Sophie remembered. Nei, though, was a mess. His hair looked slightly burnt off, and his ears were purple. She ventured to guess that he was the one casting most of the spells.

"Well? Won't you tell me?" Sophie asked sharply when they were silent.

Mari guiltily inched away from the book in Neil's hands, and Neil quickly set it down so the title was hidden against the tabletop. Sophie knew very well that it was a spellbook, and she snatched it away before they could grab it again.

She said, in a slightly louder voice, "I did not sleep well last night and I am not in the mood for your antics. Now, what were you two doing this morning?" She turned up the force of her glare.

It proved all too much for poor Mari. "It was Neil!" she cried, pointing passionately at her brother. "He wanted to see if Uncle Howell had any good cereal and--"

"Don't be such a tattle-tale, Mari!" Neil snapped back. "You were already climbing on everything, saying, 'I'm bored and I'm hungry' every five minutes--"

"But you opened the door and found the book!"

"I was going to ignore it if you hadn't kept pestering me to read it!"

"You didn't have to!"

"If I wanted you to shut up, I did!"

Sophie cried, "All right, that's enough! It seems both of you are at fault. Come here and sit down."

The siblings reluctantly took their seats at the table, and, after flipping through the spellbook, she called for Michael. When he came in, Neil snickered at his appearance, earning him a sharp, "Neil Parry!" from Sophie. She read the reversal spell, and Michael soon found himself gazing thankfully at his normal-sized arms.

"Is this the world of fairy tales, Sophie?" Mari asked, no longer able to stay quiet.

She didn't see the harm in telling them, now that they knew and even worked magic. Still, she wanted to save all the messy explanations for Howl; he had left the children practically in Sophie and Michael's care, and it wasn't fair that he got to slither out of this.

"Uncle Howell will explain later," she told Mari, which caused Calcifer to cackle.

"He's going to love that!" he exclaimed, grinning widely.

Mari screamed and leapt into Sophie's arms, while Neil yelped and fell out of his seat. Apparently, they had been too busy playing magician to notice the fire speaking earlier.

"Why does Uncle Howell have all this weird stuff in his house?!" Neil cried, not daring to take his eyes off the dreadful-looking fire creature.

Calcifer stopped smiling. "Well, you're a rude one, aren't you?" he grumbled. Flaring up, he snapped, "And it's not like I want to be stuck here, anyway! I'd be _happy _to get out of this bloody hearth, but I can't!" He threw a pointed look at Sophie, who muttered, "I've been little busy lately; it hasn't been my top priority."

The door creaked open, and the quarrelsome bunch turned to see Howl whistling as he entered the castle. "What luck!" he exclaimed, too busy closing the door and revelling in his good fortune to notice the group's ill humor, as well as how messy the castle was. "The king--I mean the manager--was too busy trying to find his daughter to keep his appointment with me today. Don't worry, she's not actually lost; she just decided she wanted to play hide-and-seek..." _Now _he saw the mess. "Have you been slacking off, Sophie?" he joked, although he seemed a little worried.

"Don't blame Sophie, Uncle Howell!" Neil cried. "I was the one who found the spellbook."

Well, Mari simply would not allow Neil to be the only one to act noble. What if he got a treat for being so good? She bounded up to her uncle and cried, "I was the one who told him to use it! I kept bothering him! I'm sorry, Uncle Howell! We're the ones who made the mess, not Sophie!" She put on her best pitiful face. Sophie watched the siblings argue about it with a little amusement, although now that she had a good look at the room, she felt overwhelmed by the cleaning she'd have to do.

Hesitantly, Howl said, "So, you've worked magic, have you?" He looked at Michael, as though begging him to explain that it was just a silly game the children had come up with, and they hadn't done actual spells. Michael, unfortunately, could not oblige him, for he shook his head apologetically.

"It's true," Calcifer informed him, not sorry at all and sounding mostly interested in how Howl would try and slither out of this one. "They know about me, too."

Sophie had to admit, Howl was doing a very nice job holding back his curses in front of the children. In the end, he just sighed heavily. "Well, I figured it would be sheer luck or a miracle if you managed to get through this whole trip without discovering a little magic. Come to the table; I'll try and explain."

Everyone sat, and Howl began a most confusing explanation about other worlds, magic, and the like. Sophie considered herself somewhat intelligent, but this was ridiculous. Eventually, Howl seemed to forget that he was speaking to children, and he began getting out pieces of paper, describing dimensions and staring to talk more to himself than to the others.

"Sometimes," Neil whispered to Sophie, as Howl began drawing lines furiously, "I think Uncle Howell just likes to hear himself talk. I heard that he's really smart, but I think he just makes things up."

"Howl," Michael said, sounding pained. "I don't think any of us are understanding this."

Howl looked up and saw how glazed-over everyone's eyes were becoming. "...Oh. Well, let's try it in layman's terms. Neil, you'll understand this, at least. You still watch _Doctor Who_, don't you?"

"Yes," Neil replied, perking up now that he actually understood what Howl was talking about. Sophie wondered what magic had to do with medicine.

"Well, remember when he says, 'People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, time-y wimey stuff'?"

"Um, yeah, but that's still confusing."

Howl continued. "It's like this: Just as time can be all jumbled up and not one straight line, the universe isn't as we think of it, either. It's not just seperate planets and worlds; everything's jumbled up. What world you access depends on how far you reach and how you aim."

To Mari, who still seemed confused, Howl explained, "Cariad, it's like when you reach into a jar of gummy worms. That's how you travel to different worlds."

Gradually, her scrunched-up brow smoothed. "I think I get it."

Sophie had never heard of gummy worms, but she thought she understood as well.

"All right, so there's other worlds," Neil said. "But what about this one? What's this one like?"

"Well, I can explain that," Sophie replied. "I'm from this world, as is Michael. We use carriages to get about, not those beastly cars." She shuddered. "We don't have your magic boxes--"

"She means the telly," Howl interjected.

"--For entertainment. We watch plays, read, go shopping, go to parties, and occasionally there's a ball a select few are invited to."

Mari cried, "Have you ever gone to a ball, Sophie?"

Before Sophie could comment, Neil asked, "So I hadn't imagined those old things! Is this like the eighteen-hundreds or something, Uncle Howell?"

"For us, it's reminiscent of it. For them, it's the present. Only real difference is that they have magic here."

Howl went on to explain how he had stumbled upon Ingary in college, and, after much prodding, he admitted that yes, there were evil witches and wizards. He told an abridged version of their current fight with the Witch of the Waste, explaining only that she was a mean woman who was trying to capture Howl.

"Has she killed anyone?" Neil demanded, looking more excited than frightened.

Sophie thought of Fanny.

_Sophie, get a hold of yourself_, she told herself firmly. _You don't know anything for certain. Mrs. Penstemmon was the only one who--_

"Nonsense," Howl said lightly, and she looked up at him in surprise. "But she's still very dangerous. Which is why it's better for you two to stay in here, where it's safe. Alright?"

"Fine," Neil replied. Sophie was a bit surprised that he had agreed so easily.

"Alright," Mari said, much more reluctantly.

Howl beamed. "I'm proud of you two; you've handled all this extremely well. And I can see," he added a bit ruefully, "that you're both quite adept at using magic. How about I teach you a few things?"

"Yesyesyes!" the two cried excitedly. Sophie, meanwhile, silently mourned over how much messier things would become.

"Make sure you teach them a cleaning spell, too, while you're at it," she told Howl, who merely laughed.

He did teach them one, though, and she was thankful. She participated in the lessons also, once she got herself properly dressed, and it ended up being very enjoyable. Sophie put her troubles and worries behind her as she showed off her gift of speaking life into things, which thrilled the children.

When it became the siblings' turn to try their hand at proper magic, they did rather well, all things considered. This is not to say there were no mishaps; far from it. The children did become quite good at using the cleaning spell as a result. However, they soon became quite annoyed with failing all the time, and watching suds and bubbles appear out of nowhere could become quite dull after the thirtieth time in twenty minutes.

"Can we learn to conjure something?" Neil asked. "Trying to make a pen levitate is boring."

Howl replied, "You have to put more heart into it."

"Can we conjure some_one_?" Mari inquired.

Howl shook his head. "Sorry, cariad; we can't let anyone from Earth know about magic. That includes you parents. It's our little secret."

"We're not supposed to lie," Mari said reproachfully.

"Dear God, she looks just like Megan when she does that! Mari, you're right, but bad things could happen if you tell people. No one will believe you, for one, and it could lead the Witch to you both. You don't need to lie, just...omit a few things."

Sophie sent him a look. "Congratulations. You're teaching your niece and nephew to lie."

"They _need _to, for when they go back to their world."

Neil said reassuringly, "Don't worry. I already lie all the time."

Sophie rolled her eyes and went back to cooking lunch. "That's not exactly a good thing, either, Neil."

Michael helped teach the basics and the specifics on conjuring spells while Howl and Sophie took a break and sat outside, enjoying the cool breeze. "I'm surprised how much they've improved, even though they can't see it," Sophie said as she massaged her poor hands, which were cramping from sprinkling this and gesturing that for so long.

"Here," Howl said, taking her hands and muttering a few words. They soon felt as good as new. But he still didn't release her hands.

"Thank you," Sophie said as she tugged a little harder, which made Howl relent.

They listened to the wind for a while. Then, Howl said, "Sophie..."

"What is it?"

"...Is your sister very pretty? Not Michael's--I wouldn't stoop that low--but--"

"I beg your pardon?!"

Howl laughed. "I was just joking!"

Sophie was positively livid. How _dare _he?! "If you target Lettie for fun, I swear, I'll...do something awful! I'll make you go bald! How's that?"

"Are you jealous?" he said teasingly.

"I'm protecting my sister!" Sophie shouted back.

There was a boom. The two looked at each other.

Howl raised his hands in surrender. "Take it easy, Sophie--"

"That wasn't me."

The two raced inside and found that the table had been smashed. The reason for this smash, they noticed, was that a grown man had been conjured.

"IT WORKED!" the children whooped, pouncing upon the fallen man, who grunted painfully.

Michael was quite pale. "They said that they wanted to conjure Neil's GameBoy charger. They lied."

"I'm proud of your observation skills, Michael," Howl said irritably, putting a hand to his forehead. "I'm a wonderful teacher, aren't I? Apparently, they have no qualms with lying _now_."

Garreth sat up slowly, growling for the children to get off. "Oooh, my back. What the deuce happened to me?" He took a good look at his proud childen, at the house--which was not his own--as well as Howl, Sophie, and Michael, who were all dressed in their usual, Ingarian-style clothes.

"Welcome to the castle," a voice behind him piped up. Gareth slowly turned and saw that the voice belonged to a smiling fire.

Gareth then proceeded to faint.

Neil and Mari stared, shocked that their father--_their father_--had passed out from shock.

Michael asked Sophie anxiously if he should throw water on him.

Calcifer urged him to do so, as that wouldn't require him heating anything up. "So long as you don't throw it near me," he said a bit timidly.

Sophie proceeded to get a glass of water.

While all this was going on, Howl just smiled and smiled, knowing that he finally had something to blackmail Garreth with.


	20. Another Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**Hello, everyone. I realize that many of you are hoping for an update, but I'm afraid there might not be one for at least a while, if not ever. I've been crazy busy with many different things, including trying to get some older fanfiction out of the way and work on my original stories. However, I recently realized that I am not a good writer, and probably will never be, so I might as well focus on something worthwhile that I can actually do. What that is, I have no clue, but I guess I'll figure it out eventually. I'm writing this to let you know not of my "young life crisis", but of the fact I might not ever write any work of fiction for at least several months, if not longer, and that includes this fanfiction. A few of my older stories might still get a couple updates because they're so close to being done, and maybe I'll get out of this funk and find a way to improve instead of staying stagnant and thus return to the world of writing. However, from where I'm standing right now, it looks like this might be permanent. So, in case it is, I just want to say thank you so much for all your support. I'm sorry if this really is never finished. You all have been so wonderful, even through this stupid story, and I thank you for everything. Even if I do end my time on FF, I'll leave my account open in case you need a story for a good laugh. :)  
**

**Lots of love,**

**Alyssa  
**


	21. Author's Note AGAIN

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (SUBTITLE: IN WHICH THE AUTHOR RAMBLES BY WAY OF MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME)  
**

**Alas, this is not an update. I'm so sorry. I was thinking about just editing the last author's note, but then some old readers might not see it. I had posted this notice on my user profile quite some time ago, but lately I've had a few kind messages come through that made me realize not everyone reads/stalks the user profiles, and hence why I am letting it known here that the notice is this: I HAVE NOT ABANDONED WRITING. I did, for about a month, around the time the last author's note was posted. It was a bit of a mini-depression episode, I think. To save you the long boring details, I got out of it, I went back to writing, finished a few old fanfics, cranked out a novella, and won a short story contest. It was like God was just grabbing me by the shoulders and turning me around onto the road of writing again, saying, "See? This is what I want for you. Now stop moping and start doing."**

**So what does this mean for you darling readers? First of all, I can't thank you enough for the kind words you gave me, then and now. It was so encouraging to read your comments. In fact, I just reread them, and honestly it made me tear up a little. I'm incredibly blessed to have you guys. And if you don't mind being patient with me and putting up with a few more months, I will have updates for you! I swear! I'm never going down that "woe is me" path again. Not with writing. If anything, that month of ignoring all my stories just proved to me that even if I don't get anywhere with them, they are still incredibly dear to me.**

**Now then, the bothersome news: I'm in college-yay!-which means I'm busy-boo. I'm trying to crank out an anthology of original works and self-publish that to make a few extra bucks, do homework, survive German, and have a social life. And so I have decided that I will focus on my original works during the school year and my fanfiction projects during the summer. Including this one, I have about four works that are still ongoing in the fanfiction arena. "Spirited Around" is arriving at its climax (and that should be interesting because it's an action-y story and since beginning that series I have realized that I cannot do action-y worth crap), "The Thousandth Summer" I am considering dropping but have not decided yet, "Before She Leapt" has hardly even started yet but I have some vague idea of where it's going, and this story. Ah, this story. I have most of it plotted out, but it's a much trickier project in many ways than the others. All my other stories have been spinoffs or sequels and as long as I followed the original plot, I was pretty much okay. With this story, though, I want to keep familiar territory while making it fresh. And I want it to be deserving of you guys. That's why in the past, "Destiny" never was really updated very much. I feel intimidated by it, because I never meant for it to get this far. I expected it to maybe be fifteen chapters, tops, not seventeen and not even close to being done. **

**But I will finish. And God willing, it will be _good_, or at least not something that will make me embarrassed to read a few years down the road. The game plan will be to finish "Spirited Around" (FINALLY), come up with some concrete plan for "Before She Leapt", and post a few chapters of "Destiny" this summer. It probably won't be a lot, but it will be something, and I hope you will like it.**

**In case you would like teasers, the title for a future chapter which I am actually very excited to write (but probably won't be for a few more installments) is this: In Which Lettie is Bespelled.**

**There. Now you know I am not dead/anti-writing, because self-loathing ghosts do not generally write this much. ;) Actually, it's 1:30 at night and I ramble at night. Yep. But it's been a while since most of you have probably heard from me, so here you go! **

**As always, thanks for your patience. I will see you in the summertime! (Hopefully sooner though!)**

**-Alyssa  
**


	22. Conjuring Proves Quite Terrifying

**Prettyinpinkgal: Guess who's back! This chapter has been done for a while, but I wanted confirmation that it was decent enough to post. I actually have the entire rest of the story planned out, as well as the last chapter written, but naturally it will be a while before the entire story is complete. Still, I won't be blindly staring at the computer screen wondering, "What the devil do I do now?" anymore. I will be working more on "Destiny" in July, but I am just about done with the first draft of my fifth novel, this one I have intentions of sending to an agent, so I will have my focus on that naturally. But you will be seeing a few more chapters of "Destiny" before the summer is done! I have to say I feel very blessed to have such faithful readers. I am grateful to you all.  
**

**I also have a question. Now that FF has unleashed the story covers (which I have conflicting feelings with), would anyone like to make one for Destiny? I would be interested in seeing what you guys come up with!  
**

**Thank you to Random Romantasist 999 for giving your opinion on the plot outline, and melliemellie for being kind enough to beta this chapter. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Many more twists and turns await ;)  
**

**Disclaimer: All proper characters and plots go to Diana Wynne Jones, except for Suliman's father-who belongs to me-and Mr. Collins-who belongs to Jane Austen.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: IN WHICH CONJURING PROVES QUITE TERRIFYING**

Or at least, this was what Howl did for the span of about half a minute, before he jumped up and stared at Calcifer.

Sophie, who had hesitated when it came to throwing the water onto Gareth-him being practically a stranger, after all-now did so in a jerking sort of way, surprised by the sudden change in the atmosphere. Gareth sputtered into consciousness, and she watched as some sort of silent communication happened between Howl and Calcifer. The fire demon flared up a bit, then grew and grew until Sophie pulled the children behind her and Michael helped Gareth to his feet before his hair grew singed.

There was a stickiness in the air that was more than humidity. It was pure, unadulterated magic, the sort that made it a little hard to breathe and seeped into every pore. Howl's sleeves flew back as he flapped his arms towards the door as if attempting to sweep away a child from underfoot. The sweat beading on his face, though, proved that the exertion was far greater than his easy gestures made it look. Sophie kept the children tightly against her, watching as Calcifer made the door open and Howl stumbled out.

The door slammed shut.

For quite some time, no one said a word. Then, as if a great silent roaring had died down, they were able to hear themselves breathe. This was a relief. For Sophie, at least, she had felt as if all the magic had spirited away her lungs.

They waited for Howl to come in through the door again to explain, or make some sort of joke, or something. Anything. Sophie's mind reeled. One minute he laughed. The next, he had the look of a madman. Even worse, he looked terrified. It was more than just his unregulated emotions.

_Gareth scared him off_, Sophie tried to tell herself as she slowly returned to some semblance of a state of normalcy. _He wondered what Gareth would do to him when he woke up._

But Calcifer would not react that way. It was not a joke.

As if to emphasize this, Calcifer shot up again, even worse than before. Mari screamed and hid her head in the skirt of Sophie's dress. Neil was shouting something, probably asking what was happening.

Sophie wished to rush out the door, to try to find out what the deuce was happening. She glanced anxiously at Michael and found him eyeing the door as well. Gareth no longer leaned upon him, but against the sink, watching with a dazed expression. No doubt he thought himself dreaming.

"Come on," she finally said over the noise of the roaring fire. "Let's go upstairs. Things should be calmer there."

Like she used to herd her sisters along in their younger days, when toys and shops used to entice them and lead them away from the rest of the family, she now herded the others past Calcifer and up the stairs. She was the last one up. She looked back at the hearth but knew it was no use to try and get an explanation from Calcifer. He was busy.

She met the others upstairs. Mari bounded towards one room, but Sophie called softy, "No, dear. We'll head into Michael's room and calm ourselves down." Howl did not like anyone in his room.

After Michael cleared some of the mess out, Sophie and the children sat upon the bed, and Michael tried quite obviously to display what he probably assumed was a manly sort of composure that Gareth showed. The father ruined this impression by letting out one dull "Huh?"

"My thoughts exactly," Neil grumbled. Sophie ruffled his hair in an awkward but affectionate manner. Neil brushed her off and looked away darkly.

"Is Uncle Howell mad at us?" Mari asked tremulously, gaining Sophie's attention.

"Why would you say that?" she asked, startled.

"He ran away," Mari replied, "after Neil and I got Dad here. He's mad, isn't he? I didn't mean to! We just wanted to get Mum and Dad here so they could make up!"

Neil bunched away from Sophie a bit more, folding into himself. She looked up and saw Gareth starting to wake from his understandable stupor.

"Good God, this is real, isn't it?" he asked Michael, who nodded miserably in return.

"Welcome to Ingary, Gareth," said Sophie, who did not feel particularly obliging at the moment. She did not mean to be so curt. She did not mean to be anything, really. She knew she needed to keep the children calm, at least. But other than that, most of her feelings were drifting off somewhere far away, and she did not have enough left over to spare a thought for his state of mind. "We have seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility, but at the expense of having no talking boxes-tellies, as you call them. Howl described something about timey things and yummy worms. The children seemed to understand, so maybe you can have him run it through with you again."

"Um," said Gareth.

"Dad, you're all right, aren't you?" Mari now asked, bounding up to him and anxiously pulling on his pant leg. He looked down at her and picked her up.

"I'm fine. Sore, but...I think I must've gotten a concussion though," he added, more to himself.

Sophie ran through a few questions with him. "Then no, you're fine," she said at the end of the interview. "I've had a concussion before, and you're fine."

"Oh," he mumbled complacently. "That's all right, then. Thank you, Sophie."

She halfheartedly wondered if he thought himself going mad, but soon forgot to think about such things. Instead, she stepped into the hallway, no longer feeling quite the burn of magic that was there minutes before, permeating throughout the castle. She moved downstairs, motioning for everyone to stay up in the room while she did so.

Calcifer was not the blazing inferno she had last seen him as. He was a little more subdued, even though his size was much larger than usual.

"Are you all right?" she asked, finding herself faintly annoyed at the fact that she was almost frightened of him.

"Maybe," he hissed out between his not-quite-there teeth. "Ask me in a few minutes."

"What's happening?"

"The Witch," he gritted out. "She got a foothold in when Howl's otherworldly relatives started using magic. She was helping them along without any of us knowing. With them conjuring that man in here, she used that to really announce herself. Things could've been bad if we hadn't noticed until a few minutes later than we did. She could have materialized and used all her magic."

Sophie opened her mouth, then fell silent.

"It's not like you to not say anything, you know," Calcifer said while she absently tossed a log into the hearth.

"Howl would make a quip about that. But I don't really know what to say. He's fighting the Witch, then? You are, too?"

"We're connected, and that makes us more powerful," the fire demon replied. He seemed to be relaxing a bit more.

"But you want to break the contract," Sophie said.

"Worse things will happen than the Witch killing us if it's not broken," Calcifer answered bleakly before flaring up again.

"Who's winning?" she demanded, even though Calcifer was obviously a little preoccupied at the moment.

"Neither and both," he yelled back. "We won't be killing the Witch this time around, but I don't think we're done for, either!"

With that, his flames surged up even more, and Sophie eventually wobbled back to the stairs.

She could piece things together well enough now. Miss Angorian probably spent so much time near Neil that she cast a spell or was able to identify his presence or some sort of thing around those lines. She used Neil, whom she saw almost daily, and subtly manipulated his magic to tug herself into the castle, as if climbing a rope. And all the poor boy wanted was for his parents to come back together again.

Sophie found something growing inside her heart, an anger almost too deep to feel, but it gnawed on her, and she wanted nothing more than watch the Witch and Miss Angorian to lay on the floor like Mrs. Pentstemmon did when she died. But as soon as she thought this, the memory of that sight came again, and she gripped onto the wall in the stairwell and felt her stomach lurch, even though the castle hadn't been moving for many minutes now.

To her relief, the Parry family and Michael were not at the top of the steps waiting for her. It allowed her to slink against the wall and sit on one of the steps, gripping her sides painfully as she tried to regain control. It seemed as if she was surrounded by death. It terrified her to no end. It was not so very long ago that she saw her own father upon his deathbed, breathing his last and then becoming absolutely still, a stillness that made him seem not quite human anymore. She had to be strong then, for the sake of her family. And she needed to do it again with Fanny's...disappearance, if that truly was all there was to it. And Mrs. Pentstemmon, and now Howl...

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, repeating Calcifer's assuring words in her mind.

It was a long time before Michael finally came down. They both sat for a few minutes, listening to the silence and hoping it would be ended, regardless if it would be for good or ill. Eventually, Sophie told him what she knew.

"Well," Michael said softly, "I guess this means the Witch is done with the cat-and-mouse game."

Sophie let out a little exhale that sounded like it could have been a chuckle.

"I told Mr. Parry what I could. I think he's taking it fairly well. He's talking with his children now. I told them they should probably stay in there for the time being. It's probably a lot for him to..." Michael paused, taking in Sophie's vacant expression. "Are you all right?"

This time she definitely laughed, and she was somewhat aware of him flinching away. "If I hear that one more time..." But he meant well, at least, and she appreciated it. _I'm glad Martha's chosen a nice lad like Michael_.

Slowly, the two went down the steps again. Sophie looked at the windows, surprised to find that the sun was setting. Calcifer was smaller than his usual size, but the power of magic remained in the air.

They scurried towards him, feeding him log after log. This seemed to rouse him a little. At the very least, it made him more comfortable.

"What happened?" Michael asked. "Did Howl win?"

"I wouldn't be here if he didn't," Calcifer replied tiredly, exerting himself as little as possible while halfheartedly gnawing on a log. "Don't worry about him. The sorry sod will probably be back." He paused. "Eventually."

Sophie and Michael looked at each other. The fear reflected on the other's face fueled their own terror. Calcifer fell asleep after muttering how there would be a big day tomorrow.

"He must be badly off, then," Michael cried as best as he could in a whisper. After seeing what Calcifer was capable of, he did not want to make him very angry by waking him up. "Maybe Calcifer will know where to find him!"

"He's out cold," Sophie replied, her heart hammering in her chest. "I-in a manner of speaking, of course. Anyway, we won't get anything out of him today."

The Parry family came down, and Michael explained to them as cheerfully as he could that Howl was fighting the evil Witch and that he would be back tomorrow, perhaps. Mari, used to the results in fairy tales, relaxed immediately and claimed that since Uncle Howell was good, he would be fine.

_Not that good_, Sophie thought morosely.

Neil seemed to relax too, just a little. "It's all right then. He's alive."

Gareth said nothing.

Everyone had a cold meal. The adults were too preoccupied with their own thoughts to keep Neil and Mari from having cereal for their dinner. Michael, Gareth, and Sophie all chewed thoughtfully on their bread and cheese. The inside of the castle gradually dimmed as the sun set, and eventually they were in utter darkness, save for the small little flicker of light in the hearth. Michael summoned some candles, glancing warily at Gareth lest he startle him with too much magic. Gareth watched the candles with grave fascination and not a little disbelief.

"I miss Uncle Howell," Mari said tiredly, resting her head on the table. "When is he coming back?"

"Tomorrow, probably," Sophie said, glancing at Michael.

Gareth stood now, taking Mari into his arms. "I think it's time for bed," he said. His voice sounded a little stilted, but then he had spoken hardly a word today, at least when Sophie was within earshot.

"I'll go too," Neil replied, scooting away from the table. Sophie did not miss the way his eyes darted towards the door. "Mike," he then said, ignoring when the older boy awkwardly corrected him, "when Uncle Howell gets back, do you think he could bring me on as an apprentice, too? I think I have a real knack for it. And the least I can do for not listening to him is to help him defeat that Bi-"

"Neil Parry," Gareth snapped.

"-Witch," Neil added sheepishly.

Michael looked to Sophie for help.

"I'll talk to Howl about it," she said at last. Neil could not know about the Witch using him to get to Howl. "I think he will be a bit busy to teach you, but maybe after Midsummer Day? No using magic unless he is teaching you, either way."

Neil brightened at this, not noticing the way Michael's features darkened with concern. "All right, fair enough. Thanks, Sophie. I know I can always count on you. Night, Mike," he called as he followed his father and sleeping sister up the steps.

Michael waited a while before hissing worriedly, "But that's after the curse-!"

"Exactly. Either Howl won't be able to teach him, or it will be safe for Neil to use his own magic."

He shrugged helplessly. "That makes sense, I suppose. Should we wait a few more minutes? It's nearing eleven already, and it's been a long day."

Sophie waved him away. "Go on. I'll just be up a few more minutes. I couldn't sleep if I tried."

Michael hesitated, then nodded. "I don't dare use my own powers to find Howl. What if the Witch gets in again?"

"Howl's alive. We'll just have to be patient," Sophie answered with a confidence she did not feel. "Good night, then."

"Good night."

Sophie listened to the footsteps going up the stairs before sighing heavily, resting her head in her hands. Waking up Calcifer seemed very tempting at the moment, but she was not so nervous that she felt the need to disturb him. Really, he was in as much danger as Howl was today, was he not? She was concerned, of course, but somehow a fire demon seemed much more capable of surviving a wicked witch than a human wizard, with or without a heart.

And if she had to be honest with herself, her relationship with Calcifer was different from her relationship with Howl.

"Have you got any coffee?" a rough voice asked, sending her into the air before she plopped back into her chair, her heart racing.

"No, no coffee, sorry," she gasped.

Gareth had the grace to look a little ashamed. "I didn't mean to startle you. I realize things have probably been the worse for you than anyone else here. May I sit?"

Gesturing to the seat next to hers, Sophie asked, "Why's that?" It seemed odd to her that the uncouth Gareth Parry seemed so...docile. On top of that, he was being awfully polite.

"Because you're in love with Howl," he answered, "aren't you?"

Sophie's cheeks flushed. "No such thing! I-Well, all right," she added relentingly. "I suppose you would think that, considering how Howl and I pretended to be a couple, but-"

"Michael already told me that was an act," Gareth replied, eyeing her. "But you honestly do have feelings for him, don't you?"

If Gareth of all people was willing to give her relationship advice, and if she was almost tempted to take it, then the day had to be a bizarre one. "Very, very small ones," Sophie said in a squeaky, reluctant voice. "But don't you ever, ever tell anyone that, or I will feed you to the Witch."

"I don't want to. I'm not a girl," he replied bluntly. "I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were in for."

"When will you learn that I do not need your help regarding Howl?" Sophie shot back. She was smiling, though; Gareth clearly did not mean to antagonize like he did last time.

He gave a little hesitant smile himself.

"Even you must be a little impressed with Howl now," Sophie added, "what with him turning out to not be the lazy bum you perceived him as."

"I'll grant you that," he said, although he still seemed dubious. "Howell really is set up to be the next Royal Wizard?" Immediately following that statement, he let out a small scoff. "Saying such a ridiculous thing..."

Sophie shrugged. "It will take time to get used to it, I expect. By the way, thank you."

"For what?"

She rose an eyebrow. "You're trying to cheer me up, aren't you? Unless I'm completely off."

His ears turned pink, and Sophie resisted the wild impulse to laugh at the sight.

"Not doing a very good job, am I?" he replied wryly. "Even I have a heart. And despite how I usually act, I don't hate Howell so much that I wish him dead."

"Especially now that he's not such a good-for-nothing?"

"Well, yes. I do want to apologize to him about that. I wouldn't take those kinds of insults when I'm working for a king. I'd deck the guy. I'm sure the philandering he's done is exaggerated, too, probably."

Sophie snorted at that. "No, that's true enough. He's self-obsessed, a coward, and he's courted half of Ingary, it seems. Michael needed to scare off angry aunts too many times to count, or so he says, and I believe him. He flirted with me the first time we met, even. He's incorrigible, really." Talking about Howl made her stomach sink, and she quickly turned the interrogation on Gareth. "So what did happen between you and Megan?"

His lips formed a thin line and he looked towards the hearth. "I said something I shouldn't have, and it spiraled out of control. It was mostly my fault."

"What did you say?" Sophie inquired.

Gareth grumbled, "You're quite the nosy one."

"Yes, yes, I'm Miss Nose, now what did you say," Sophie demanded, no longer asking.

Gareth mulled over the options he had: go over his tumultuous marriage and possible divorce, or abandon the conversation and risk letting her grow afraid again. Gareth was not by nature a particularly sympathetic or sweet person, but he did feel he owed something to Howl, and he didn't mind this Sophie person as much as he had during their first meeting.

"I told her I regret being her husband," he begrudgingly admitted.

Sophie stared at him. "In jest?"

"In truth," he answered drily.

Sophie continued to gape at him. "And...you did tell her you didn't mean it, didn't you? Or...did you mean it?"

"I'm still not really sure. I mean, I was mostly just tired from my job-dealing with Howell wasn't something I planned on dealing with as soon as I got home either-and I did have a little liquor in me...but I was...That is..."

"You still meant it."

"Yes. I just don't know if I meant it only at that moment or if I really do feel that way. I stayed at a friend's flat, trying to figure it out." He cleared his throat then, looking at the hearth with an embarrassed intensity. "It's very awkward to talk about. Either way, Megan sounds set on a divorce."

Sophie, on the other hand, was unimpressed. "Did you two try talking it out?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "It depends on what you-"

"So Megan attempted to talk and you shut her down because of your pigheadedness?"

Gareth glared at her, and Sophie happily launched herself into a heated debate which proved a helpful diversion from another, more pressing issue.

Around midnight, the door crashed open, and the aforementioned issue resolved itself. Howl burst in singing the saucepan song, closing the door even while leaning against it so he could regain his bearings.

"It's so bloody gloomy in here!" Howl roared, falling this way and that before wrapping his arms around the shoulders of a now-standing Sophie and Gareth. "How are you lovely people! Gareth, what an unexpected pleasure! I hope you find my ca-_hic_!-castle to your liking! Soooophie, you look absolutely _beauuuuuuuutiful_, but that's usual for you."

She slid out from under his grasp, making him stumble and grab onto the table. "Hopeless," she groaned. For a minute, though, she felt a joy so strong that she almost couldn't think. Then her brain caught up to her and reminded her that the reason everyone had been worried stiff was because Howl had the urge to go out and get drunk after his fight with the Witch without even bothering to let them know where he was.

"Walls, make sure that the others don't wake up," she told them very, very seriously. The walls, now given a bit of life, must have been scared to death, for even when Sophie launched into her tirade, not a peep came from upstairs.

"How dare you!" she shrieked now, pointing her finger at him, making him stumble backwards. Gareth, quite wisely, got out of the way quietly with a mix of hidden intimidation and amusement. "You prance off without a word, and all we have is a half-dead fire demon to rely on for information!"

"Would you mind casting a spell so I can sleep in peace?" Calcifer groaned before falling silent again.

Sophie was pretty sure Gareth squeaked when Calcifer talked, but could not attend. "If you were actually busy, or lying in a ditch somewhere with broken bones or in the Waste, I could forgive you, but no! You went out to a bar without even telling us-Gah! You...You...Gareth, be useful and give me a word!"

"Er, he sucks?" he supplied, trying to think of the cleanest thing he could think of.

"You suck!" Sophie screamed, and Howl toppled back against a wall. The latter being a bit too petrified to say much in return, she stormed back to the table and began cleaning up plates with a vengeance. "I refuse to think I got caught being so miserable about..." She huffed loudly, shaking her head.

"My turn, then?" Gareth asked her, and she nodded, waving her hand over to the inebriated wizard while she threw the plates into the sink. As she turned around, she saw Gareth pulling Howl up by his fancy coat.

"The Witch...She got into the castle using Neil, didn't she? She used my boy to get in? Then if my own son isn't safe, and he's in the place that is presumably the safest in the apparently-multiple worlds, then what of Megan? Is Megan safe?"

Sophie saw now, past her ebbing anger, that Gareth was not up solely to comfort her. This was his number one priority all along, and she watched the scene silently while her blood pressure returned to normal.

"Huh?" Howl said intelligibly. "Oh. Yes, she should be fine all the way in France. When she comes back, that's when she might be in an eensy-weensy bit of trouble. We're the ones in trouble. Yep. Sophie dear, you get to come up with things you want in a new house, okay? Okay. We are moving the castle!"

"What?" Calcifer piped up, peeping over a log. Pitifully, he said, "No."

"Yes," Howl said stubbornly.

Calcifer sank into his logs, the fire hissing sadly and sleepily.

"You know it's our only option...Okay, that's enough chatter. Someone, for heaven's sakes, help me fine the stairs. Sleep now, talk later..."

Since Megan was safe, Gareth obliged and helped Howl to his room. Sophie, meanwhile, got changed and cuddled in her cubbyhole. Now that Howl was back, she had no qualms falling into a heavy, restful slumber. Too much happened that day, and she did not want to think of how badly she wanted to weep for joy when she saw Howl in the doorway.


	23. Which Contains a Move and Stress

**Prettyinpinkgal: So, this chapter. Yes. Uh, as you can see, my intention of working on Destiny in July did not happen. Well, it did happen, but not nearly to the extent I hoped for. But I wasn't a complete slacker the past six months! I took 18 credits while working this semester, AND I did multiple rounds of editing for my novel, so I had my reasons! But I still did not fulfill my promise, so I really am sorry about that. So no more promises. I will merely say that now that the semester is wrapped up, I will try to get a few more chapters out of "Destiny" over the next month.  
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**Regarding this chapter in particular, I cheated with the moving castle scene. DWJ wrote it too brilliantly, and there was no hope of my coming up with something equally innovative/creative/descriptive, so I essentially copied and pasted that.  
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**Also, some of you may recognize what Howl quotes towards the end. That is Shakespeare's Sonnet 130, one of my favorites. Howl is familiar with Donne, so certainly he would be able to quote Shakespeare. Furthermore, the sonnet is very reminiscent of Howl and Sophie's relationship. So, as I'm trying to not have the POV wander willy-nilly from Sophie to Howl and focus more on Sophie, this little quote is very important to a larger truth about Howl in this moment. (Read the last two lines of the sonnet.)  
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**Finally, please don't forget to review! It's not merely me being greedy, although of course you guys have spoiled me with 188 reviews! I really would like your opinions on where the plot and the characters are going to make sure everything's in tip-top shape.  
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**Props to melliemellie, who edited this chapter so quickly.  
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**Disclaimer: All proper characters and plots go to Diana Wynne Jones, except for Suliman's father-who belongs to me-and Mr. Collins-who belongs to Jane Austen. The moving castle scene is all DWJ's, and Sonnet 130 is Shakespeare. I can only be envious of their writing.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER NINETEEN: WHICH CONTAINS A MOVE AND A GREAT DEAL OF STRESS**

The morning came sneaking into the castle without Sophie noticing. It took her a minute, upon opening her eyes, to realize it was due to the fact that the castle was actually quiet. If she listened carefully, she could hear the wind moaning softly through the other side of the wall.

Slowly, she sat up, her muscles sore from being so tense the day before. Leaning her head languidly against the wall, she wondered if she should go back to sleep. No doubt Howl wouldn't be up for hours, trying to sleep off the hangover that would plague him for the rest of the day. Gareth, too, would probably sleep in after the late night they pulled. The children would have woken her by now if they were up.

"I suppose that leaves Michael and Calcifer," she yawned quietly. She remembered how her finger dug into Howl's chest the day before, close to his throat, since she was too busy yelling to focus much on her aim. She remembered the lack of pulse, which was what made her decide to drop the argument. Howl seemed like a fairly normal person-for a philanderer and a wizard-despite not having a heart in his chest, but she felt certain that his contract had left some sort of lasting change in him. For example, he did seem to care about people, but not to the degree that he would make a common-sense decision of coming home directly after a dangerous clash to assure the people there that he was all right.

_Perhaps_, Sophie wondered, _he can only feel the shallow aspects of affection, and the very deep-such as when he ran to Mrs. Pentstemmon's place to save the woman, God rest her soul; the sort of love that transcends the distance between his heart and himself. Perhaps he can't feel the in-between emotions._

Somehow, that seemed like a rather sad fate.

Sophie pushed aside the curtain and immediately retreated. The sound that suddenly swarmed into her ears startled her. Experimentally, she closed the curtain, and the sound went away.

"Was that man actually thoughtful for once?" Sophie wondered aloud, rolling her eyes skyward before opening the curtain more slowly this time.

To her shock and amazement, the sound was not the only thing that bombarded her senses. There was a great deal of magic again, but not the sort that clashed and fought like yesterday. It was just strong and Howl's.

Gareth and the children ate breakfast-cereal again-in an out-of-the-way corner. Michael and Howl pranced around the castle making different markings. Michael made them carefully and slowly, while Howl went about in his usual slapdash manner.

"You're up early," she called to him. To the Parry clan, she asked, "Would any of you like bacon with that?"

"No using Calcifer," Howl said, glancing at her as he went past, going up the stairs. "He's exhausted, and I need him at the top of his game for when we move."

"When are we doing that?" Sophie asked.

"Today, if possible" was Howl's answer. "And try not to yell much. I'm still hungover."

"He must be really frightened," she murmured to the bowl as she grabbed a box of cereal, which was full of odd colorful shapes and was decorated with a cheerful leprechaun on the front, "if he is going on like this when he feels so awful. How do you feel, Calcifer?"

"I hate moving," he squawked, "far more than I hate cooking!"

"Ah," she said. "That's quite the statement."

But Calcifer's perturbed state made that her last joke, and she instead began conversing with Gareth and the children. Through their interactions, it certainly seemed Neil and Mari did not feel quite so distant from their father anymore. This cheered her; after losing her own father, she knew the emptiness one could feel. She felt it would be a shame if they should lose their father while he still lived.

"Sophie!" Howl yelled. "What sort of place would you like to live in? We're moving all the entrances."

Sophie's first thought took her to Mrs. Fairfax's cottage. She had always loved it there. "A place with lots of flowers, please. If it's not possible then that's fine-"

"I'll work on it!" Howl bellowed, still upstairs somewhere. "Hell's teeth! My head..." came softer.

"You're the one doing all the yelling," she called with apathy. But she felt even more cheered by the fact that her opinion actually mattered to someone. For all Howl's faults and self-absorption, he did at least try to accommodate for her.

A few hours later, Howl and Michael stopped for a brief lunch break. They had cold sandwiches and some pastries Michael had brought from Cesari's the other day.

While they dined, Howl said, "Sophie, we need to set up a new shop, one not connected with magic. Hiding in plain sight didn't deter the Witch from finding us. Now we will have to be sneaky about it. Suggestions? Maybe selling hats?"

"Absolutely not!" she cried. "We can sell...flowers. We will be living near a place with plenty of flowers, won't we?"

"That works," he said. "We're just about finished." With an irksome smirk, he added, "You seem a little excited, Sophie. No, no, don't try to squash out that smile. It will only make you more adorable."

"Howl," Gareth said as he took a swig of his beer, "don't flirt in front of the children."

Michael laughed just as he took a bite of his sandwich, prompting him to turn away. Calcifer did nothing to hide his amusement, his cackle still apparently disconcerting to Gareth. Howl sulked slightly, but dropped it.

"Oh, it's all right, Tad," Neil said, glancing at Sophie for just a moment. "He used to flirt with girls all the time when he brought him round the house before. I'm used to it. Although I'd never sink as low as him."

"Neil," Howl sighed.

Howl soon got back to work, repainting the blobs by the door and making a few final markings with Michael's assistance. Sophie spent the time sewing dresses for Mari's doll and collaborating with Gareth to try to get Neil to solve his revived boredom by reading an actual book-an act Gareth did not often indulge in himself, but the saying "Do as I say, not as I do" was thrown about quite a bit during this discussion as it grew in liveliness.

Michael disappeared for a bit, holding a silver shovel. Howl stopped jumping here and there and cried, "This is it, everyone! I'll need you all to step back. No, Mari, go back to your dad. There's my girl." Howl rested the shovel on his knee in order to chalk a sign on both handle and blade and add a pinching of grains onto it. "Are you ready, Calcifer?"

He popped up with great reluctance. "As ready as I shall ever be," he said. "You know this could kill me, don't you?"

"Look on the bright side," said Howl. "It could be me it kills. Hold on tight. One, two, three." He dug the shovel into the grate, very steadily and slowly, keeping it level with the bars. For a second he juggled it gently to get it under Calcifer. Then, even more steadily and gently, he raised it. Michael was quite obviously holding his breath. "Done it!" said Howl. Logs toppled sideways. They did not seem to be burning. Howl stood up and turned round, carrying Calcifer on the shovel.

The room filled with smoke. Gareth gave the children towels to cover their noses and mouths lightly. Howl coughed. He had a little trouble holding the shovel steady. Sophie's eyes were watering and it was hard to see clearly, but Howl's heart was quite obviously rocking to and fro in the indent of the shovel. Her own heart went out to Calcifer, who feebly clung to the shovel.

"Won't be long!" Howl choked, trying to be soothing. But he had to shut his mouth hard and stand for a moment trying not to cough. The shovel wobbled and Calcifer looked terrified. Howl recovered. He took a long, careful step into the chalked circle, and then another into the center of the five-pointed star. There, holding the shovel out level, he turned slowly round, one complete turn, and Calcifer turned with him, sky-blue and staring with panic.

It felt as if the whole room turned with them. Neil held Sophie's hand. Michael staggered. Sophie felt as if their piece of the world had come loose and was swinging and jigging round in a circle, sickeningly. She did not blame Calcifer for looking so frightened. Everything was still swinging and swaying as Howl took the same careful steps out of the star and out of the circle. He knelt down by the hearth and, with enormous care, slid Calcifer back into the grate and packed the logs back round him. Calcifer flopped green flames uppermost. Howl leaned on the shovel and coughed.

The room rocked and settled. For a few instants, while the smoke still hung everywhere, Sophie saw to her amazement the well-known outlines of the parlor in the house where she had been born. She knew it even though its floor was bare boards and there were no pictures on the wall. The castle room seemed to wriggle itself into place inside the parlor, pushing it out here, pulling it in there, bringing the ceiling down to match its own beamed ceiling, until the two melted together and became the castle room again, except perhaps now a bit higher and squarer than it had been.

Howl helped himself up on the shovel and opened the door with the knob orange-down.

A wide, weedy drive wound away from the door now, among clumps of trees most picturesquely lit sideways by the low sun. In the distance stood a grand stone gateway with statues on it. "Where is this?" said Howl.

"An empty mansion at the end of the valley," Calcifer said rather defensively. "It's the nice house you told me to find. It's quite fine."

"I'm sure it is," Howl said. "I simply hope the real owners won't object." He shut the door and turned the knob round to purple-down. "Now for the moving castle," he said as he opened it again.

It was nearly dusk out there. A warm wind full of different scents blew in. Sophie saw a bank of dark leaves drift by, loaded with big purple flowers among the leaves. It spun slowly away and its place was taken by a stand of dim white lilies and a glimpse of sunset on water beyond. The smell was so heavenly that Sophie was halfway across the room before she was aware.

"No, your long nose stays out of there until tomorrow," Howl said, and he shut the door with a snap. "That part's right on the edge of the Waste. Well done, Calcifer. Perfect. A nice house and lots of flowers, as ordered." He flung the shovel down and went to bed. And he must have been tired. Now he could properly sleep off whatever might have remained of his hangover.

Sophie was tired too, which she felt a bit guilty about. She had done very little, which bothered her a great deal, so why had she any reason to feel so exhausted? But watching Michael and Howl spring about all day had worn her out, and it had humbled her as well, seeing how advanced they were in their magic. Michael flopped into the chair and ate a pastry as he ignored Mari's bombardment of questions, staring out at nothing. Sophie perched on the stool, feeling strange. They had moved. It felt the same, but different, quite confusingly. And why was the moving castle now on the edge of the Waste? Was it the curse pulling Howl toward the Witch? Or had Howl slithered out so hard that he had come out right behind himself and turned out what most people would call honest?

Sophie glanced at the staircase, concern in her features.

* * *

Her eyes shot open.

The darkness of the cubby surrounded Sophie in a way that actually helped restore peace. The heavy sound of her breath broke whatever remaining hold her dream had on her, and she sat up, settling back into the physical world.

_I'm certainly not going back to sleep after a dream like that!_she thought, pulling her robe around her as she got to her feet, parting the curtain just slightly.

The spell on her cubby must still have been in effect, because it was only then Sophie heard the murmuring in the kitchen. As she poked her head through, she saw Howl slouched over in a chair, speaking quietly with Calcifer.

"Sorry, my friend, I'll let you rest now," Howl said, concluding whatever discussion they had just had. "We've both been pushed to our limits the past few days."

"More me than you," Calcifer spat-_without_, Sophie thought, _his usual fire, har har_. "Most of that magic was thanks to me."

"Yes, and I thanked you for that by giving you my heart, so you needn't fish for gratitude," Howl chuckled, glancing away-which happened to be in Sophie's direction.

They both straightened just a little as their eyes met. He recovered first. "Of course your long nose couldn't stay out of the conversation, even at four in the morning and with a spell on the curtains!"

She bristled a little and came out into full view. "I only listened to the part where you were wrapping it all up, thank you," Sophie said loftily.

"As if you wouldn't have listened to the rest if you could," he chuckled.

"I was-I was coming out for some coffee."

Howl said, "Coffee at four?" as Calcifer snapped, "I am _not_making coffee."

"I'm sorry, Calcifer, I wasn't thinking. How are you feeling?" she asked, kneeling beside the hearth and feeding him a log in appeasement. He took it greedily.

"I'm tired and this blockhead woke me an hour ago. I am going to bed, so if you have to fight, fight quietly." Calcifer's eyes closed.

Sophie glanced at Howl, raising a brow. "Losing your beauty sleep at three?"

"You know as well as I do that I don't need it. Coffee at four?" he persisted.

"I thought I'd do some early morning cleaning."

He gestured to the chair beside him. She eyed it and took the one across from him instead.

"You wound me."

"I seem to inflict pain upon you quite often, yet you hardly seem to suffer from long-term effects. Lucky you," Sophie retorted.

"Only because my heart is physically unattached to me at the moment."

She wondered if this was true, glancing at him again. Yet he wore such an amused expression that she found herself growing annoyed at the falsehood of his comment.

"I was certain you would sleep till noon," Sophie grumbled, stifling a yawn as she grabbed a pastry Michael had bought a few days ago.

Howl took one too, chewing thoughtfully for a long while. "Bad dream?" he then inquired, looking at the slumbering Calcifer.

She nodded, belatedly realizing that he posed it as a question, not as an answer to her own comment.

"Me too," he replied quietly, just when Sophie began to blush and utter her retort.

Her retort died. "Really?"

He nodded. "I dreamt someone died my hair ginger."

Sophie sputtered into a laugh. It was of short duration, but Howl had accomplished his purpose, making him smile as well.

"It would serve you right, then," she retorted, her smile still not yet faded.

Howl got up, grabbed another pastry, and, instead of sitting in his previous seat, he sat very close to Sophie.

"Howl," she said warningly.

"What?"

She shifted her chair a little bit away. He followed her, purposefully dragging the chair to make an ugly sound.

"Shh!" she hissed. "You'll wake Calcifer!"

"Then you ought to stop moving!" he replied, using his debonair grin to mollify her.

Sophie refused to give in. She stopped moving away, but instead she growled, "You are the most ridiculous man that's ever lived. Stay away from me."

"'I love to hear her speak, yet well I know / That music hath a far more pleasing sound,'" muttered Howl to himself.

She flared, but displayed remarkable self-control in keeping her mouth shut, for Calcifer's sake. As the gentle crackling from the hearth filled the room, Howl laid his hand on top of Sophie's. She flinched, turning to him with a verbal barrage at her ready.

But Howl's expression had changed to one of gravity. He no longer looked at her, but at the newspaper flung haphazardly upon the table. She saw nothing of interest until she found a headline on Midsummer Day. "The grand event is little more than a month away," read one line.

Sophie could not bring herself to hold his hand in return, but she quietly let it rest upon hers, feeling the steady warmth that lied.


	24. In Which Things Slowly Crumble

**Prettyinpinkgal: More kudos to melliemellie, who again edited this chapter so fast! I already have half of the next chapter written, so with any luck, I will have that up by Christmas as well. A big hug to The Lifeless girl and Lady Hallen for their kind reviews!  
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**Disclaimer: All proper characters and plots go to Diana Wynne Jones, except for Suliman's father-who belongs to me-and Mr. Collins-who belongs to Jane Austen.  
**

**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER TWENTY: IN WHICH THINGS SLOWLY CRUMBLE**

Over the next week and a half, a peculiar air filled the moving castle.

In some ways, normalcy returned to their lives. Sophie found herself extremely taken with the garden near the Waste, which she frequented either to find flowers to sell or for her own personal pleasure. The shop took off. They kept it in Vale End, for fear that opening it in Market Chipping would bring more unnecessary trouble. Sophie felt rather disappointed in this decision-more than once, she turned the handle to lead her to Market Chipping, but she never opened the door. She was not so foolish as to set out willy-nilly, even if she did fight Howl just to keep the portal open.

In any case, normalcy made itself known in the routine they set up. Michael helped Sophie in the shop. Howl only became a nuisance when he worked there. The girls flocked to him, and then they flew away once they realized they had a dreadful habit of wanting to buy far too many flowers under his care. Sophie and Michael-for different reasons-pushed him out, urging him to focus on his spells for the king instead.

The children, too, saved everyone. Since the battle, they were very careful in biting back their complaints and behaving as well as possible. It was killing them, anyone could see, but they dared not let them help in the shop. Sophie and Michael could at least somewhat identify when a spell was being cast now. The children could not, and could be in danger of being cursed themselves. Still, they would leave soon, and that cheered them, as did the fact that their father spent so much time with them and did not look like he'd rather be doing a thousand other things. Their energy and naive perspectives warmed the adults' hearts. Even Neil, cynic though he may be in his own world, was still so unfamiliar with this realm of magic that, like Mari, he thought all fairy tale logic applied. Many a time, he spoke of the Witch's demise as a certain thing. Howl took this as a sign that he had grown in Neil's estimation, and he flamboyantly flaunted it, making smooth and confident remarks when he performed spells: "Yes, few wizards can do this one." "Oh, Mrs. Pentstemmon, the good old dame, said I had quite a bit of talent from picking up this spell so quickly." "Perhaps you can follow in your old uncle's footsteps and help me run a wizard shop when you kids are older. I must warn you though, it's not as easy as I make it look."

Beneath the cheer and busyness of the occupants of the moving castle, however, was a quiet uneasiness. They waited for the Witch to make her next move. Howl, when not causing a fuss or making spells for the king, did his best to try and find a lead in finding his fellow Royal Wizard and Sophie's stepmother, though it took Sophie a while to realize what he was doing. He was also working on a way to connect the castle to that France place so Gareth and the children might find Megan before she returned to Wales. That was the only thing he was open about. Michael, meanwhile, disguised himself with different cloaks to check up on the ladies in the Fairfax household in Upper Folding every few days. Once, he accidentally disguised himself as a horse, which, when he began speaking, made Mari laugh 'til the milk she drank came out of her nose. Despite how amusing his disguises could be, it was not lost on Sophie that the reason he visited was to make sure her sisters and Mrs. Fairfax were safe, and that the reason she was never asked to go along was because she might bring added danger somehow. That stung, but she was an older sister first and foremost, and she would not bring any more trouble that she could help to her family, even if she sometimes needed to bite her tongue to hold back some jealous remark when Michael needed to go to Upper Folding. Tensions and fear were always there, slowly building like fallen snow, ready to smother the moment they grew too high.

And to make matter's worse, Sophie had her heart to worry about. After the night where Howl held onto her hand, Sophie could not regain the passionate indignation that had previously reigned in her interactions with him.

_And she hated that._

She was vulnerable in the entirety of their acquaintance. She had relied on him for a place to stay, for his help in Wales, for his protection from the Witch and so on. But at least she had her sharp tongue to keep him emotionally distant and as impervious as possible to his flirtations. But that night, though his words were light, his actions spoke louder and more honestly. It was a long time before he let go of her hand, and when he did, he made a joke about how she ought to go to bed, not that she needed her beauty sleep.

She could only say, "Goodnight, Howl."

And she _hated_that!

If she was physically vulnerable before, now she was emotionally. Now was not the time for this. Actually, there ought to never be a time for this. Howl, though not nearly what his reputation presented him as, could not be someone she seriously thought of in any sort of devoted fashion. It would come back to bite her in the end. She had done well not fancying anyone in her younger years. She simply just needed to stop.

Far easier said than done. If truth must be told, Sophie, in the darkest depth of her heart, suspected that when they both argued over the door to Market Chipping, it was more for the fun of it than a real difference in interests. And that was not good, because she needed to dislike him. Worse yet, she did not really think Howl would ever completely eliminate the Market Chipping entrance, because of her wishes and attachment to it. It was narcissistic, it was delusional, it was...Howl-esque of her. But the belief-the girlish, childish hope-held out nonetheless.

Throughout this week and a half, then, Sophie did whatever she could to try and block herself off as much as her stupid affection would allow. She considered offering her treacherous heart to Calcifer, but that seemed like it would not be very wise.

She decided to go with less-drastic measures. For example, when Howl stated that the guest rooms he had added on were ready, Sophie refused to move in. It made her situation more unseemly than before, she claimed, although she had to admit a real bed and space of her own to move around in seemed quite tempting. But to move in and have that so-called "space of her own" meant it was really "the space of her own in Howl's house", and that seemed to make her stay there seem awfully permanent.

Today, she also decided to cut up one of his suits.

He didn't deserve it, really, considering all he was doing for her and her family, let alone his own sister's family. But she caught him once with that devilishly perfect smile, and it was directed at some doe-eyed customer with hair a weak shade of yellow and blood-stained cheeks. It was not that she was jealous, of course. She was not so far along in her feelings to be jealous. She was certain of that. But he was no doubt going to drop that watery-eyed thing the second he spotted another girl. It was wrong for him to do that. If a man did that to her-that is, one of her sisters, she would never forgive them.

It was just the sort of motivation she needed to spur her into some kind of alienating outburst, and what better way to do that than to ruin one of his much-beloved suits?

"Sophie! What sort of destruction have you wreaked now?" Howl exclaimed when she entered the castle after taking a turn around Vale End in an attempt to stir up more of her ire. He did not seem very angry, just bewildered and exasperatedly amused. He pointed to a basket left obtrusively on the table, filled with the puzzle pieces of his suit.

Her indignation died down as embarrassment and shame at her actions crept in, and she hurriedly tried to fan the flames of irritation again by snorting and saying, "Gah! Never you mind. A vain, cowardly, no-good man like you wouldn't listen to reason if someone cut up your clothes to open your eyes to it!"

Her excuse sounded pathetic in her ears, and this time, Sophie was successful in gaining some anger-towards herself.

"And here I thought I understood women, yet you baffle me at every turn, Sophie dear." Howl smiled ruefully as he picked up a piece of his attire. "Or were you trying to get my attention because I've been neglecting you?"

"Believe me, I haven't felt had any qualms with you turning your attention to those poor girls that come by the shop, except in that it scares them off or they're hurt by it."

The second Howl's gaze snapped back to hers, Sophie knew she'd made a dreadful mistake. He smiled victoriously.

"I meant I neglected you because of my work, but Sophie, you're actually jeal-!"

"I am *not*!" she screeched. "I only feel bad for those girls! That's...!" She did not finish her thought, instead voicing her disgruntlement and humiliation in a series of grunts and crashing dishes as she prepared for dinner.

"Not to interrupt," a low, awkward voice ventured, "but we ought to go."

Sophie whipped around, just now noticing the Parry family squashed by her cubby and Michael staring at her with a log half-given to Calcifer, who had to reach over and take it himself. Gareth, with his wide stride, moved towards her, stretching out his hand.

"I'm not sure if I ought to bow to you," he said, "but we shake hands in our land." As he took hers and did so, he added, "Thank you for putting up with us. When things calm down, I'm sure Megan would be happy to have you visit us again, if she's willing enough to let there _be_an 'us' again."

"You're leaving? Now?" Sophie stammered, moving past her shame over her unbecoming display into genuine surprise.

Mari lifted her hands, and Sophie automatically lifted her up into a hug while Gareth answered in the affirmative. Over the girl's shoulder, Sophie saw Howl give her a half-smile and a shrug.

Looking away, she turned to Gareth. "It isn't because of...me, is it? How I acted?"

"Oh, no. Howell figured out the entrance a few hours ago. We packed and stuck around til you came back."

"Oh. Oh, well, thank you for waiting," she babbled, hugging Mari tighter now. "Take care, Mari. Listen to your father, all right?"

"Okay," she answered as Sophie set her on the floor. The child looked unhappy, but she knew nothing of how potentially permanent this separation might be. They would not meet again at least until after Midsummer Day, and who knew what that would bring.

Neil, surprisingly enough, was the one who worked to dispel her secret fears. He kissed her hand in an overt attempt to suit her world, which made her bite back a smile. Mari pranced over to her uncle, and Neil motioned Sophie to bend down.

"Don't worry," he whispered, though he seemed a little morose. "I know how the fairy tales work, too. If Uncle Howell's the supposed hero of this story, destroying the Witch and all that, you'll either be his damsel in distress or his heroine, but either way you win him."

"Well, how lovely! Thank you, Neil!" Sophie cried, stretching her lips into an unnatural grin as she shook his hand. She thought she would die of embarrassment. A young boy, telling her the fate of her romantic troubles which she had hoped she had kept too discreet for others to notice, was too much for her. She needed to cut up another suit. It had been rather freeing, if only in the moment.

At that moment, Neil wrapped his arms around Sophie. She hugged him back, but he stayed a little longer than the typical hug generally lasts. She patted his back, but the hint was not enough for him. Her smile grew more and more strained as she looked around for help.

Gareth grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off, making the boy stagger and groan.

"You're turning my boy into a Casanova," Gareth grumbled to Howl, who stopped chattering with Mari in Welsh to reply wryly, "Gareth, I applaud you. I didn't think you were capable of allusions."

Sophie waited for the inevitable tension, but instead both men broke into reluctant but accepting grins, clasping hands. She wondered when they had become so agreeable. She wondered what else she had missed.

Howl then spoke in a low voice to Gareth, who turned grave and nodded. "Got it," he said. "I'll tell her. You two ready now?" he called to his children.

"Yeah," they said, grabbing their bags and rolling bags.

"Good luck," Howl called as he turned the door to a new grey color. "Keep as much to yourselves as possible. Keep the interaction with others to a minimum. And keep away from Wales till after Midsummer Day."

"Good luck to you too," Gareth said, looking meaningfully at the wizard. "And not just with your curse."

Both men glanced at Sophie, who reddened to a darker shade than her hair as she raised her hand in a half-wave and turned away to get started on dinner again.

_Oh yes_, Sophie thought as she sulked. _Howl does need help, with such a temperamental cleaning lady._

"I can't properly do anything until I get something else settled first," Howl said in a quiet voice, but Sophie strained her ears and could hear it.

She paused in her work before quickly resuming. Did that mean he was waiting for after Midsummer Day, and then he would kick her out when it was safe?

Sophie hated herself as she felt her heart plummet towards her stomach. This was precisely what she had hoped for. She was successful in putting distance between her and Howl. She was getting out before her feelings got too serious. This was good. This was great! She had done something right for once.

When had she become so pathetic?

Masking her emotions, she turned back towards the door, waving again to the family as they moved through the door, calling, "Godspeed!" to them before the door closed behind them.

It was quiet for all of ten seconds before Calcifer cried, "Finally!"

"You've done well," Howl condescended, smirking at the hearth.

"I did fantastic! Do you realize I tried to be quiet as much as possible so I didn't scare them more than necessary? And I had to let those two devils keep poking me, because I couldn't yell at them! I'm never doing this again, Howell Jenkins! The next time they come, I'll flare up and tell them the rules of this place!"

"Very well, blueface. Here's another log."

"They'll be safe in this France place, won't they?" Michael said.

Howl nodded. "The Witch has a very limited influence in that world. They ought to be fine. As for us, I'm not sure if we will be, considering how dinner looks tonight."

Sophie looked bemusedly at the bowl, only to gasp and groan at the sight of whatever vile substance was bubbling in it.

"What is that?" she cried, and Michael and Howl came over to look while Calcifer shouted, "Bring it this way so I can see!"

"It appears you were in such distressed spirits that it seeped into the cooking," Howl sighed. "Put a bit more anger into it, and you might have some weedkiller here."

"Oh, be quiet," she hissed, shoving the bowl towards him. "You make dinner, then!"

As she stomped away, Howl called, "Any chance you'll behave rationally soon?"

"No!" she shot back before properly processing his question, going towards her cubby.

"Someone's at the door!" Calcifer cried, making them all stop and listen. The only sound was the crackling of the logs in the hearth, as well as their own shallow breaths. There was no knock.

"The Witch?" Michael said, his voice going high.

"No, but it's been in contact with the Witch. I can sense her magic."

"Everyone stay back," Howl demanded, grabbing Sophie and pulling her towards Michael as he nodded towards Calcifer.

With breathless trepidation, Howl opened the door.


	25. In Which There Are Changes

**Prettyinpinkgal: Greetings, everyone! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! I present to you yet another chapter of "Destiny". I'll attach another author's note at the bottom regarding my thought process for this chapter. Many thanks yet again to melliemellie for her editing, particularly during the holiday season.  
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**On a different note, yes, a certain Tolkien reference was made out of anticipation for the new film, which I just saw and was delighted with. Since this is DWJ's world, however, hobbits do not look quite like Tolkien described. Okay, I'll admit it-"hobbit" is just a fun word, and I wanted to use it regardless of real relevance. ;)  
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**Don't forget to leave a review!  
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**Disclaimer: All proper characters and plots go to Diana Wynne Jones, except for Suliman's father-who belongs to me-and Mr. Collins-who belongs to Jane Austen. Hobbits belong to Tolkien.  
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**DESTINY**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: IN WHICH THERE ARE CHANGES SEEN AND UNSEEN  
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Howl was shoved back as Whoever It Was forced its way in.

"A hobbit?" Michael whispered aloud as Whoever It Was came into their line of sight.

"Too tall to be a hobbit, and perhaps not humanlike enough," Sophie whispered back, thinking of any offensive spells Howl had taught her. The creature certainly did not seem humanlike, hobbled as it was and covered with shawls and blankets.

"Is this Wizard Howl's castle?" the thing ventured, a voice raspy and slightly feminine said before hacking a cough.

Howl made his way from behind the door, closing it a little. "May I help you?"

"Hmph!" they heard the voice grunt, and Howl jumped away as a large stick swung in his direction. One of the shawls fell and revealed a very old lady, gnarled hands gripping the stick as she tottered in. "So you're Wizard Howl, are you?"

"I beg your pardon, madame, but I-"

"Don't play at that!" she shrieked, not unlike a banshee. "This is all your fault, anyhow!" Her eyes flashed something awful, and Howl closed his mouth with an almost audible clack. Sophie wondered if he was as reminded of Mrs. Pentstemmon as she was, although the late tutor was never so visibly emotional.

Nevertheless, irked old women could be rather intimidating.

The woman made her way through the room, and her eyes landed on Sophie. "There you are!" she cried. "I thought the spell was all wrong after all."

"Er," said Sophie, as the woman clasped her shoulders.

"You've always been so good at helping people, Sophie. Let me stay here a little while. I'm not speaking to _him_," the woman said, watery yellow eyes glaring at a bewildered Howl. "He dragged us all into his own mess. If I die of a heart attack, it's all his fault!"

"Um, all right?" Sophie said, a little too befuddled to make any inquiries.

"I-Do I smell food? I am hungry. I haven't eaten anything since last night. Everything's too hard for me. You'd be amazed at the troubles old women face."

"Make yourself at home," Sophie stuttered. "I'll make you some soup, the kind that's not weedkiller."

She looked towards Howl, but he had disappeared. _He must have slithered out,_ Sophie thought, _but that ought to mean that this woman's not a danger to us, though the way she's acting doesn't help her case._She feared the woman was...missing a few cards in the deck, as they say.

Michael helped the woman towards the hearth, the latter saying, "You're Martha's beau, aren't you? She's very fond of you. She's been disappointed that the both of you haven't been able to meet in a couple days. Treat her well, all right?"

Sophie was just about to follow them and ask how she knew Martha and herself when Howl entered the room again. His eyes flickered towards hers, and he said, "I just checked. It looks like the Witch hasn't followed her here. We should be safe. I don't understand what she's doing here, though. Most people run away from magic after they've been cursed. They rarely run to the house of a wizard with a notorious reputation."

"I'm not sure she's quite all here," she answered in a hushed voice, tapping her own head. "That was rather foolish of her, though. I-"

Someone knocked on the shop door, but the knocking was more like banging. Howl disappeared for a minute to open the door. Martha, Mrs. Fairfax, and the dog poured into the castle, saw Sophie, and quickly hugged her before saying, "Is she here?"

"What is going on?"

"Blast it!" panted Martha as the dog ran in, then Mrs. Fairfax. "We realized she was gone and we had to use a searching spell on her. She must have woken up at the crack of dawn. She's gotten more stupid with age! Can Wizard Howl take off the spell?"

"I-I don't know. Can you?" Sophie called to Howl, who was locking the door.

Martha whirled round, apparently oblivious to his presence before. The first thing she said was, leaning and whispering to Sophie, "Well, he is very handsome. I approve in that regard, dear Sophie." Then she said to Howl, "She's not at all herself, and I'm not talking about just physically, either. You must help her."

"Very well," said Howl, which surprised Sophie. He was not a bad man, not really, but she had expected more whining or bargaining or resistance from him, or at least a witty comment. He must have been feeling very guilty indeed, if the woman's curse was truly a result of her connection with him.

_Wait_...

They all walked to the hearth, where the woman was wielding the poker at Calcifer, who shouted, "Not again!" The dog tried gently to lean on her to get her away from the annoyed fire demon, but he seemed nervous as to how much weight would send her toppling over.

"Lettie," Martha said carefully, "let's get Howl to take off your spell, all right?"

"No," the old woman snapped, sending them all into a state of surprise. "If you take off the spell, and I go out, the Witch'll see that I'm pretty-"

_Lettie, you might want to work on your vanity_, thought Sophie.

"-and will know that Howl removed my curse, and Howl and pretty girls is not a combination that makes the Witch happy. Look how she's been trying to get at poor Sophie!"

"Er, I'm not really that..." Sophie began, but most of the company was more amazed that this seemed such a logical argument, considering the state Lettie was in.

Howl frowned and said, "You can stay here, although it's no more safe than Mrs. Fairfax's home. We won't let her come at you again." He reached out and made a tugging motion.

Lettie's lips were firmly set and her spell remained on.

Howl tried another motion this time, and Lettie still kept the spell on.

After some time, Howl finally gave up, though he did say, "I can see your stubbornness does run in the family, Sophie dear."

"Lettie's always been bolder, but I've always been more set in my ways," Sophie replied, only slightly amused after the unseen tug-of-war.

Calcifer peeked out and looked at Lettie. "I don't like you," he said, "but we might as well try and get that curse off of you somewhat. Otherwise, you'll lose your head a little. Or, better yet, you'll get a heart attack and die."

Sophie and Martha shot each other alarmed looks, but the idea of Lettie dying of a heart attack still seemed far too odd a concept to infuse them with much terror.

"Oh, fine," Lettie humphed. "Just a few years off, though, or at least restore my health, because I-oof!"

She tilted back a bit as Howl gave one good yank, and her deeply-set wrinkles began to stop drooping quite as much, and her body grew a tad bit thicker and more sturdy. Lettie let out one very long sigh.

"I do feel better," she said, "and I thank you for it."

"You should be good as new now," Howl told her.

Now that the danger was gone, Martha fully relaxed and said, "You should have heard yourself, Lettie. You babbled on so much that I thought Mrs. Fairfax-oh," she cut herself off upon remembering that the woman stood at her right.

"What about me, dear?" Mrs. Fairfax asked, completely innocent.

"Nothing," Martha replied, but her thumbs were not spinning.

Sophie felt someone help her into a chair, realizing it was Howl when his voice, lighthearted and false, sounded near her ear. "Well, ladies, would you mind please explaining to us what's happened? I think Sophie is a little overwhelmed, and that takes a lot to do her in."

"I'm fine," she said as her remaining family looked at her. "I'm just a little, er, well, it's been one of those days."

"You haven't had 'one of those days' until you've felt your arthritis kicking in," Lettie replied, though she hobbled over and took a seat next to her once Howl moved out of the way. "But I can't imagine how surprising this must be for you, dear Sophie."

Martha wrapped her arms around Sophie. "It is so good to see you, Sophie! Please don't be too worried. We're all right now."

Sophie gripped onto her youngest sister while she held Lettie's hand gingerly, disturbed by the protruding veins and wrinkled flesh. "Tell me everything. Now. Please."

"I ran into the Witch last night outside of Mrs. Fairfax's," Lettie said, her mature, crackly voice impossible to get used to. "She wanted to use us-me, Martha, Mrs. Fairfax-to get to you. And by getting to you, it'd get to _him_."

Sophie flinched, whispering, "Howl?"

"She wouldn't want to get me head-on right now," Howl said loudly, announcing he had heard them. "I gave her a hard blow last time. She'd want to get me when I don't have my head straight."

Lettie gave no indication she'd heard him. "The others got me in the house before the Witch aged me so much I'd be nothing but bones. I shot a spell at her, you see, and it got her ire up. You wouldn't think it, but Mrs. Fairfax has very powerful defensive magic. She's been using jars upon jars of honey lately to keep us safe in her cottage. She did study with Mrs. Pentstemmon, I suppose, so she must be rather powerful in her own way. She's not good with offensive magic, though. Oh heavens, I am famished."

Martha left Sophie to go to an anxious but kindly unobtrusive Michael, letting him hold her as they whispered to each other. Mrs. Fairfax chattered on to Howl and, after getting past her shock at the fire demon, spoke to Calcifer as well as she made non-weedkiller soup. Calcifer seemed to like this. He had felt rather ignored lately.

Sophie did not notice this. She was holding on to Lettie's hands, saying, "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry, Lettie."

"It's hardly your fault, Sophie," Lettie scoffed. "It's Howl's. He's the one who involved you-and then us-in this whole mess." The coldness in her voice was not one Sophie was accustomed to hearing from her sister.

"No," Sophie whispered quickly. "Believe me, I know you have a right to be angry, but Howl has had a hard time, too-"

"I did offer, Miss Hatter, a way to remove the curse," Howl said, and this time Sophie could not tell if he had heard her whispers or not. One thing she did notice was that he was not his usual self. It had been a long time since she had seen him fighting back anger.

"I shouldn't be cursed in the first place!" Lettie squawked. "And this is not just about what you've done to me! Martha and Mrs. Fairfax would have been done in too if we hadn't been keeping on our toes! Not to mention poor Fanny..."

Lettie did not cry. She was past the age of tears, though her heart broke all the same.

Mrs. Fairfax swooped in the second silence fell. "Now, dears, let us all calm ourselves. It's been a trying day."

"All of you, please make yourselves at home. And I do apologize for this, Miss Hatter," Howl said, bowing with a tight grin. "I should be back tomorrow morning."

Sophie stood and watched him go to the door. It opened to blackness that was not caused by night.

"Howl, no," she said.

"Don't worry, Miss Nose," he said with a wave of his hand, not bothering to look back. "Listen to Calcifer. He'll let you know if the Witch comes near."

He closed the door on them all.

Sophie stood for a minute before moving towards the door.

"Sophie, don't even bother going after him!" Lettie cried, creakily getting to her feet and grabbing her with trembling hands. "That heartless man doesn't care that he's taking us all down with him! We'll stay here since it's probably the safest option right now, but we'll all leave soon, all right? Stop being so nice! It's just pulling you down faster!"

"I'm not very nice to him at all," Sophie said in quiet surprise. "But I'm sorry, Lettie. You all should be safe in here, or at least as safe as you can be at the moment. I need to go to Howl."

She kissed her younger sister's weathered cheek before going into Wales.

Sophie had forgotten how much she disliked this world. Those deuced _cars_. Not to mention, she normally did not have pleasant things happen to her at night here, considering the last time she was alone in Wales.

But she was not alone. Howl was here, if she could catch up to him.

With the darkness of Rivendell, it was difficult, in the fading twilight, to see where he had gone. It was only when she heard snarled profanity that she managed to pinpoint that he was in the garage. There she found him, kicking some boxes out of the way as he hopped into his blasted car.

"Will you wait just a moment?" Sophie called, marching over to him.

"No," Howl snapped just as he shut the door. After a moment he jumped out again. "Sophie?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Keeping an eye on you to make sure you don't do anything foolish, like become an incompetent drunk again."

He put his right hand over his heart and raised his left. "I solemnly swear that I will not beg Sophie Hatter, nor any other person residing in my home, to guide me up the stairs, care for my hangovers, make me food, or guide me to the bathroom when I get queasy. Happy? You can run along now."

"I'm not a bloody dog, Howl. I won't come and go at your beck and call."

"I know. Dogs aren't so bloody stubborn, either!"

"I understand why you'd be angry that Lettie said those things but-"

"What? Angry at Lettie?" Howl's hard look faded a little. "I'm not angry at her at all. I'm angry at-"

He cut himself off, moving to sit in the car again.

"I'm coming with you," Sophie said, moving to the other seat.

"You hate going for a drive."

"I believe I know that, thank you!"

"Then why come along?"

"Because someone needs to show you that they are aware of your little secret: That you do have a heart, even if you hide it most of the time, and it isn't quite where it ought to be."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but he only got into the car. Sophie went to the passenger door, but it was locked.

He started the car.

Frustrated at him and Lettie and furious at the Witch, Sophie found a good way to release her emotions: She went to the back, where she knew Howl would see her in the mirror, and kicked the car the best she could.

It did not work as she had hoped. There was hardly a dent and she felt her ankle crack slightly instead.

Howl jumped out of the car, not bothering to shut off the engine, shouting, "What the devil are you doing?"

Sophie coughed at the fumes, but she gave him her best glare. "You ought to be happy I don't have that weedkiller, or else I'd throw it at you," she shouted.

"Go ahead! For God's sake, Sophie, stop being so nice and say what you really think-"

"You think I'm doing this because I'm too _nice_?" she screamed over the roar of the engine. "I could kill the Witch for what she did to my family! What she's done to all of us, and Mrs. Pentstemmon, and...everyone! I could kill her myself! But it's not as if you intentionally dragged us into this, so stop feeling so bloody sorry for yourself!"

The smoke made her cough again, as did all her screaming-it was hard to scream past the lump in her throat-and so Howl turned off the car before coming back to her. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but at least he was listening.

"I..." She was still half-shouting, and so she started again, this time in a quieter voice. "If you have to feel so sorry for yourself, at least _talk_to someone about it."

Sophie paused then, but Howl didn't bother interrupting. As her embarrassment sank in yet again, making her all the more frustrated, this time she properly pushed her anger towards its rightful place-towards the thought of the Witch-so she could speak as calmly and properly as she could.

"I won't entirely complain if you speak to me about it," Sophie said loftily. "But in all seriousness, I can point this at myself and say all this was my fault-with my family-because I decided to go with you."

This time Howl did almost speak. Sophie continued before he could.

"But it's all the Witch's fault, really. There's no use pointing fingers anywhere else. I can't imagine what you're actually feeling, beneath all your outward stupidity. There's your family and maybe your friends to worry about, and then my family attacks you on top of everything. Then there's Wizard Suliman and the prince...Any normal person with their heart in the right place would snap. I'm surprised Calcifer never puttered out on you from a heart attack.

"So, what I suppose I'm saying is I'm sorry for what Lettie said, and, um, I don't blame you. Even if you do irritate me as an unclean slither-outer who can't speak truth to save his life."

Sophie kept glaring, although her gaze, to her exasperation, could not sufficiently stay on him. It was here that Howl finally spoke.

"And you're a busy, nosy, fool-hearted girl." His voice was odd, a bit like Lettie's new raspiness. "Now we both know each other's faults."

She managed to keep her eyes on him for more than two seconds, and saw that he was not about to leave again.

"I don't..." He paused. "I don't like getting angry. It's...not good. I thought I ought to go away. Before you all see it. I wasn't mad at your sister. I was mad at..._her_. And myself. I don't like talking about this. Did you want to go inside and get some coffee? I know where they hide the key."

His lighthearted look was back. Apparently she'd get no more out of him tonight, but she thought it was a start. "No, thank you. I ought to get back to my family."

"Of course."

She took a few steps, then gave him a look.

He laughed a little. "Don't worry. I'm coming. But answer one question first."

Her eyes narrowed with wariness. "What?"

"Of course you'd want to stay with your family, so why did you come after me?"

She rolled her eyes a little and gave a small smile as he offered his arm. "Because I'm too nice."

**Prettyinpinkgal: How did you guys like this little twist? We know Lettie was the one who was originally supposed to be cursed, so I wanted to see what it would be like if she was cursed instead of Sophie. Old Lettie and Old Sophie became rather too similar, but then they are both described as strong-minded, so hopefully it's excusable. **

**I actually had a bit of a struggle writing this chapter. There was a lot that happened, but I feel it might be alienating to some readers, which is why I wanted to describe what my mindset is regarding certain parts. One of the things I really struggled with is Sophie and Howl's relationship. In my version (which admittedly is tainted by my romantic nature, though I think it has toned down over the years), Sophie is not hindered by apparent age nor a supposed significant romantic rival. The dynamic between Howl and her ought to be a lot less combative as a result. Going off of this, this story is growing a bit darker than HMC's narration really allowed, so I feel that emotional interaction is more important now than ever.**

**Tied in with this change in personality from the canon, Howl's curse in this AU is not specific, so he doesn't need to wait for a wind to be raised to be honest. He'll probably never be completely honest with Sophie, but today he made a bit of headway. Again, my reason in deciding to make him so openly truthful is because, as this story is more up-front about the dark moments in HMC (i. e. killing Mrs. Pentstemmon) and it has a few new twists towards the dark side (the more immediate danger of his and Sophie's families for example), that interaction feels necessary to me.  
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**Do please leave a review with your thoughts! Hopefully, considering the above, my choices in the interaction between Sophie and Howl makes more sense. But if you feel there should still be a great deal more bickering/dishonesty in future chapters, tell me! I aim to please.  
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